Pure & V – A natural wine restaurant in Nice

Pure & V is a small, yet perfectly formed restaurant in Nice. Here, Vanessa Massé oversees the front of house while Mads Thomsen brings his experience gained in Copenhagen to the kitchen.

As well as ensuring that guests are greeted warmly, Vanessa has assembled one of the best natural wine lists in the country to accompany the delectable food that comes out of the kitchen using ingredients that are organic and locally sourced. The two meals we had here recently were both excellent!

It nails the combination we are always hunting for of excellent locally-sourced ingredients, clever cooking (with technique often disguised by the apparent simplicity of the presentation (except the chocolate dessert that flaunts it)).

Pure & V also contributes to the Nice dining scene adding a different focus to our long time favourites La Merenda and Le Canon.

Here are some highlights from two meals in two days.

Both meals started with with greens beans coated with a tempura batter and accompanied by a stunning, vibrant green, shiso emulsion made from shiso oil. The emulsion was topped with very fresh shiso leaves. This was an incredibly light yet flavoursome dish that was a perfect start to the meal.

This was a delicious dish with veal tartare, tomato and croutons sitting on a shiso emulsion. The combination of flavours was extraordinary.

The smoked mackerel was topped with some delicious, fresh leaves that accompanied the fish perfectly.

Sometimes a dish and a wine just sing! This was certainly the case with the ravioli, an incredible sauce, the fried sage leaves and, of course, the Dédée from one of the master winemakers of the Jura.

This fish shown above was caught locally (we didn’t remember the name) but it was cooked to a lovely crispness on the outside and was meltingly tender on the inside.

This dish was quite extraordinary with the pork being meltingly tender and delicious the pumpkin cooked perfectly and the langoustine sauce bringing the elements together.

The finish for our second meal a nod to the homeland of the chef (Denmark) with a delicious slice of marzipan and a chocolate covered meringue.

We also need to talk about the incredible wine selection that Vanessa has put together. She has assembled a tour de force of the natural wine movement’s leading producers.

Many of the choices are relatively obscure so simply discuss with her the style of wine you prefer and she will find something that matches your taste and that will match the food for the evening.

The lineup includes champagne from Ulysse Collin, the Festejar rosé from Auvergne producer Patrick Boujou with which we always start our sojourns at the iconic Auberge de Chassignolles on our many visits there, a number of offerings from Loire superstar Jean-Pierre Robinot, the very rare Jura wines of Charles Dagand, wines from Tom Shobbrook from South Australia and the sought-after orange wines of Jean-Yves Péron, to name but a few from this clever list.

We are very much looking forward to our next visit!

You can read more about this remarkable restaurant by clicking on the link below:

Pure & V Restaurant, Nice