Inside the new Monsieur Dior restaurant in Saint-Tropez

There is a delicious irony in the fact that Christian Dior, the man who redefined postwar elegance with the impossibly cinched waists of his 1947 “New Look”, was a self-confessed slave to rich French cuisine. The couturier was such a passionate gourmand that he meticulously recorded his favourite recipes for heavy creams, truffles and roast squab in a highly exclusive limited edition cookbook titled La Cuisine Cousu-Main, and he frequently hosted lavish dinner parties for his clients and inner circle at his country home, Le Moulin du Coudret, where he obsessed over the table settings as much as his collections.

Now, 11 years after the launch of the first Monsieur Dior at the historic House of Dior flagship in Paris, the Maison’s culinary arm has expanded once again with a fourth location at Saint-Tropez’s Rue François Sibilli boutique. Three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco has taken the helm, following his work on the menu for Café Dior in Bangkok, returning with a delicate modern Mediterranean concept.

The Dior boutique, cafe and restaurant space in St-Tropez

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Like Dior, the chef says he was heavily inspired by the gardens for his menu. Indeed, the outdoor space here is beautiful: an idyllic, verdant hideaway stretching beneath the boutique’s sun-bleached walls, where paths lead to an outdoor bar in pastel blues, creamy flowers burst through lush greenery, and tables are laid with rattan napkin rings, thick white linens and sparkling emerald glassware. This influence is apparent from the off – amuse-bouche arrive on a bed of pink rose petals, and the signature cocktail is a lush floral affair topped with delicate floating pansies. Unlike in the Paris, Beverly Hills or Osaka restaurants, there’s no internal space here at all.

In preparation for the opening, Colagreco spent a week in Paris diving deep into the brand’s archives, which is where he discovered Dior’s recipe book. “It was extremely interesting, and truly helped me understand what kinds of food he loved,” he says. “He practically did the work for us.” The resultant menu stars several dishes inspired by the designer’s iconic dresses, plus a salad dressing so creamy as to leave you legitimately agog; a true homage to Dior’s love of rich food. (Staff will do the drizzling for you, but ask, and they just might send over an extra pan for the table.)

Colagreco’s affinity for nature extends far back before his appointment at Dior. His flagship restaurant, Mirazur, removed plastics from the kitchen way back in 2017; he was appointed the first-ever chef as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity in 2022, and he’s been working to educate chefs on overfishing as the Vice President of Relais & Châteaux since 2014. But he was also inspired by the couturier’s standards of excellence. “I love Dior’s commitment to artisanal work, to fine details and the notion that you need to spend time on something to make it special and unique,” he says.