GASTRONOMIC RESTAURANT IN SAINT-TROPEZ: THE SUBSTANCES MENU AT COLETTE, A CUISINE CENTRED ON THE PRODUCE

Where to enjoy a gastronomic menu centred on the produce in Saint-Tropez?

Imagine: you leave the bustle of Saint-Tropez harbour. Ten minutes later, silence. You are seated on a secluded terrace beneath the Sezz's palm trees, lulled by the lap of the swimming pool, a glass of champagne in hand. It is 8pm. The golden light is only just fading. At the table, a dish arrives: an aubergine, three ways of cooking, nothing else. And it is enough.

If you are looking for a Michelin-starred gastronomic restaurant in Saint-Tropez, close to the beaches of Pampelonne, Colette is probably the best answer. Chef Philippe Colinet's Substances menu does not tell a story around the produce. It is the produce. Its texture, its cooking, its pure flavour.

The Substances menu at Colette, at a glance:

• - Sequences: 5 acts
• - Chef: Maître Restaurateur Philippe Colinet
• - Price: €146
• - Produce: aubergine, gamberoni, pistes, red mullet, strawberry
• - Location: Restaurant Colette at Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez
• - Accolades: 1 Michelin star, 2 Gault & Millau toques

Colette, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Saint-Tropez, open to all

Restaurant Colette is at the heart of Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez, a five-star design hotel located 5 minutes from Saint-Tropez centre and 10 minutes from the beaches of Pampelonne. You do not need to be a hotel guest to dine here: the table is open to residents and outside visitors alike.

Far from the agitation of Saint-Tropez harbour, the terrace overlooks the hotel pool, surrounded by olive trees and palm trees. It is one of the most sought-after settings for a gastronomic dinner in Saint-Tropez — elegant without being ostentatious, festive without being noisy. The kind of place you save for the occasions that matter, or for a luxury date in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. The atmosphere is at once festive and intimate, that rare combination one so often searches for on the Riviera without always finding it.

The restaurant is open in the evenings only, for dinner.

Why the name "Colette"?

The name refers to Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the French novelist — a woman who loved Provence, the senses, the living world. Philippe Colinet's cooking continues this thread naturally: Mediterranean produce handled with respect for its origins, a menu that changes with the seasons and the morning's catch, a Mediterranean gastronomy written over time rather than for effect.

Philippe Colinet, the chef behind Colette

Philippe Colinet does not merely run a brigade — he lives his terroir. At Restaurant Colette since 2020 and awarded a Michelin star in 2021, this Maître Restaurateur has made Provençal farm-to-table cooking his signature. His days begin alongside Var smallholders and local fishermen.

In the kitchen, nothing is set in stone. A dish lives, evolving with the morning's arrivals. A sauce is tasted three times, a seasoning adjusted at the last minute. What you eat on a July evening at Colette is not exactly what you would have eaten a fortnight earlier — the recipe adapts to nature, never the other way around. This is the very essence of responsible haute cuisine.

In 2026, he signs around thirty new creations, including two new menus — Sens and Substances — whilst preserving a few iconic dishes as emotional landmarks for those who return each season.

The Substances menu, five acts centred on the produce

Substances. 5 acts. €146.

This is the season's vegetable and seafood tasting menu for 2026. Five dishes. Five ingredients. Five ways of understanding what "terroir-driven, produce-centred cooking" truly means — not in theory, but on the plate.

"A cuisine at the heart of the produce, pure flavour, the cooking — each dish reveals the substance. My team and I wish you a wonderful moment, rich in flavour and discovery." Philippe Colinet

What does the Substances menu consist of? 

Substances unfolds across five acts in which raw produce becomes emotion:

• Aubergine: served cooked, braised and smoked, it instantly evokes the wood fires of the Var hinterland.
• Gamberoni: awakened by the acidity of rhubarb and pomegranate, bound together by a prawn-head jus of rare intensity.
• Pistes: worked into a saffron soup with a risotto and a light aïoli — a direct homage to the Mediterranean.
• Red mullet: elevated by the iodine of squid ink, the freshness of fennel and watercress.
• Local strawberry: refreshed by a coconut juice, tapioca and a verbena-matured oil.

Every plate is a study in precision: nothing superfluous, just pure flavour.

The wine cellar and pairings — a selection worthy of the cuisine

Restaurant Colette offers a carefully considered wine list, designed to complement Philippe Colinet's cooking without overpowering it. The wine menu favours committed producers, identified terroirs, and bottles that have something to say.

For the Substances menu, two pairings are offered:

• - Food and wine pairing: €110
• - Food and non-alcoholic pairing, 5 glasses: €100

For those wishing to begin the evening with champagne — or to extend it — the menu also features a selection of exceptional cuvées, including Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, the hotel's partner.

A gastronomic dinner with champagne in Saint-Tropez, in a design setting overlooking the pool: that is precisely what Colette offers.

A recognised table, without ever losing sight of what matters

Recognition came gradually, without being sought. First the Michelin star in 2021, then two Gault & Millau toques. What is interesting is that nothing in Colette's cooking seems to have been done with that in mind.

What matters here is the relationship built over time with the producers, farmers and artisans who supply the ingredients. The seasonality that guides the menus. The short supply chains that structure procurement. And a committed team that upholds this cooking with consistency, season after season.

These distinctions confirm something simple: a gastronomic experience built on produce, terroir and human connection will always find its audience — well beyond Saint-Tropez, without ever losing what makes it right.

For those looking for somewhere to go out in the evening on the French Riviera, in a luxurious register without ostentation, Colette is the answer.

Practical information — Restaurant Colette, Saint-Tropez

• - Location: Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez
• - Access: 5 min from Saint-Tropez centre, 10 min from the beaches of Pampelonne, 45 min from Cannes, 1 hour from Nice
• - Service: Dinner only, 7:30pm to 9:30pm
• - Weekly closure: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in May, June, September, October; Monday and Tuesday evenings in July and August
• - Musical evenings: every Monday from 8pm to 10pm
• - Dress code: Smart casual
• - Parking: complimentary with valet service
• - Pets: accepted up to 10 kg
• - Reservations: strongly advised

Our insider tip for your evening:

Arrive 30 minutes before your reservation. Take the time to enjoy a signature cocktail by the pool, in this slow luxury setting. Then at the table, step off the beaten track and ask for the non-alcoholic pairing (€100).

Book your Substances starred dinner at Colette.