A man who covers his modesty with a top hat
By way of confession, I have to say that I simply l-o-v-e Monte Carlo. Not as a place to live, as I’d simply go nuts if I had to live in such a golden cage. It’s a place that I like to visit, especially on a November weekend, when there is a considerable difference between the freezing temperatures that Northern Europe is suffering and the comparatively mild climate that the Cote d’Azur gets to enjoy.
There is never a lack of interesting people in the world’s best-known tax haven, and one can indulge in such simple pleasures as taking a walk along the coast. To finish off one of these joyful days, I’d like to recommend Sass Café. It’s not exactly a secret place, but one that definitely deserves getting praised by this website for I had a very delicious time there.
For a start, I like eccentrics, and the owner of Sass Café, a Monsieur Sass, fits the bill with his white-haired look that reminded me of Doc Brown from “Back to the Future”. Anyone who embroiders his restaurant’s menu with a photo of his medium-sized potbelly (and of his modesty covered in a top hat) gets an A+ for not sticking to the widespread dogma of political correctness.
Crucially, Sass Café is one of these places that quite simply get everything right. The décor, the bar, the music, the food, and the crowd… It’s all orchestrated in a way that leaves nothing to be desired and it gives you that feeling of being in a truly unique place (something that is quite hard to achieve in a place that is unique itself, as Monte Carlo is).
Sass Café is decadent, vibrant and frequented by a bunch of people that can probably be best described as “international jet set”. The immediate comparable that comes to mind is Annabel’s in London. Only that in Sass, you can sit on the terrace and puff on a cigar while enjoying the mild November climate.
Monte Carlo has always been, and remains, one of the world’s most outstanding places (with property prices that are likely to keep rising).
And Sass Café is definitely on my list of places that I must visit again very soon.