Porterium attends the exclusive press dinner inside the Riviera’s newest two-floor dining destination, steps from Port Vauban.

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NYKAT Plage opened its doors on 18 June 2026 in the heart of Old Antibes, just moments from Port Vauban. Porterium was invited to an exclusive press dinner on 24 June to experience the venue firsthand — and to taste the Mediterranean menu that is already setting a new benchmark for Riviera dining this summer.

Spread across two floors, NYKAT Plage is designed to move with the rhythm of the day. The upper-level restaurant, seating 140 guests, opens first, carrying diners from relaxed daytime lunches into evenings shaped by live performance and music. An intimate, speakeasy-style cocktail bar will follow in September 2026, completing the venue’s transition from coastal dining room by day to after-dark destination by night.

A resident pianist sets the tone through the week, gradually giving way to DJ-led evenings as the night deepens.

Live music sits at the centre of the NYKAT Plage experience. What begins each evening as understated piano gradually shifts register, building toward DJ sets that carry the room into the later hours — a curation that mirrors the rhythm of the Riviera itself, unhurried by day and electric by night.

In the kitchen, Head Chef Thomas Vado draws on a résumé that includes W Verbier, Beau-Rivage Palace Lausanne, and La Table d’Hôte du 22. His seasonal, sharing-style menu favours an ingredient-led approach to Mediterranean produce, letting simplicity and provenance lead the plate rather than excess. Dessert is entrusted to pastry chef Manon Gouin, winner of the 2024 Lebey Prize for Best Chocolate Dessert and the 2025 Michelin x Valrhona Passion Dessert Award — a pairing of credentials that signals serious culinary ambition behind the relaxed coastal setting.

During the press dinner, the kitchen presented a selection of hero dishes, signature cocktails, and seasonal favourites, each one underscoring a Mediterranean sensibility built on restraint, produce, and craft rather than spectacle. Plates moved fluidly from sharing starters to refined mains, with the pastry program closing the evening on a quietly ambitious note.

For the Riviera’s ever-discerning dining circuit, NYKAT Plage arrives with the rare combination of pedigree and place — a kitchen built on serious technique, set inside one of Antibes’ most storied corners. As the restaurant settles into its first season and the cocktail bar prepares for its September debut, it positions itself as one of the more considered openings on the Côte d’Azur this year.

NYKAT Plage — At a Glance
Location: Old Antibes, near Port Vauban, French Riviera
Opened: 18 June 2026 (restaurant); cocktail bar from September 2026
Capacity: 140 covers (upper-level restaurant)
Head Chef: Thomas Vado
Pastry Chef: Manon Gouin
Concept: Mediterranean dining, live music, two-floor coastal venue