I have always been one to celebrate special occasions of my life, important milestones as well as happy minor events. A BIG birthday this year necessitated going big the entire twelve months! You might think I’m being a little narcissisic, but I’ve always believed in “carpe diem”. I decided the restaurant once voted “Number 1 in the world” would be the perfect place for an over-the-top celebratory dinner.

Marla, Lisa, and husband Ray, await Stacy and Stan who spent the day in nearby Monaco.

It is a toss up whether Lisa or yours truly loves celebrations more. The unofficial vote tally has it for…Lisa!

The views of Menton and the azure sea are mesmerizing. Our last visit to Mirazur was in 2018. Our friends Kathy and Philippe joined us from Paris.

Walking to our table I stopped for a quick hello with the boss himself, Mauro Colagreco. I was surprised to catch him here as his restaurant empire has expanded to Beijing, Macao, Nanjing, Paris, Courcheval, Cannes, Bangkok, Tokyo, and 2 in his native Argentina.

Marla looked resplendent.

When I first tried to make my reservation they said it was too early. Then I mentioned just what I was celebrating and the result was, “Ah…we must give you our very special private ‘La mesa table‘ next to the kitchen.” Notice how gorgeous their revamped kitchen looks like!

This was a perfect place for our 9 course meal with a wine pairing menu.

There is nothing better than getting together with our Girls and their husbands!

We even had a private terrace next to our table!

The chef is preparing one of our starters with creativity and precision.

This is another one of our starters. I actually lost count of how many courses we had! The menu said 9 but we could have had 12 or more!

Mauro Colagreco’s culinary creations reflect nature’s calendar and biodynamic agriculture. He harvests his plants for peak ripeness to create a menu which is constantly changing with themes like “flowers”, “fruit”, “leaves” and “roots.” He hand picks the freshest of fish, shellfish, and meat.

We loved the service and attention to detail on every level.

This was one of our unique courses.

When we opened the top we found a beautiful surprise…and when we explored more with our fork we found tasty shellfish underneath.

Culinary creativity takes amazing teamwork by all the chefs.

Lisa and Marla are very happy with the dinner and of course the setting!

We were very fortunate to be able to wander close to the kichen between courses.

More delicious and interesting dishes.

We learned how to create beautiful butter for the table.

Well…I tried!

We are presented with our…pidgeon.

The plating was quite interesting!

Stacy watches the presentation for tonight’s cheese.

We were offered a unique type of wine from the 1970’s to accompany the cheese.

Now that is a nice assortment!

Lisa and Stacy admire the chef’s artistry!

This was an experience I will never forget!

He was happy with all the results as well.

I wish I could remember what this actually was! All the plentiful wine pairings sure didn’t help!

The kitchen made a very special birthday dessert with plums!

So many delights at the end of our almost 4 hour dinner extravaganza.

“WOWZA!!!”

They made another very special little treat to help Lisa celebrate her birthday coming up the next day.

I can’t say enough good things about the special menu, the unique wine pairings, and the whole team of chefs at Mirazur! We ran out of superlatives to describe our experiece. Of course having our Girls and their husbands with us only magnified the joy of the evening! What an amazing night!

Photos: Dick Gentry & Lisa Decker. Not to be used without permission.