Infamous for its yachts, film festivals, rosé, sun and rocky sand—met with sparkling Azur waters—the French Riviera or Cote d’Azur is quickly becoming a veggie hot spot.

It’s no surprise, really. As a scene-setting, celebrity center stone rooted in the Mediterranean culture of real, fresh food, it goes to reason—vegan eating ought to be the next notable thing.

With just 72-hours to take a taste, we took a serendipitous tour through the touristy markets and vegan gems of Nice, the old world architecture and succulent scenery of Éze, the slow streets of St. Paul de Vence and the bustling wharfs of Cassis.

 

Part 1 – Nice, France

Landing on Saturday morning in early June, we were greeted with a rigorous immigration line, a typically buzzing Joe and the Juice and on-demand Uber helicopters for direct port in to Monaco and Cannes.

With no time to spare we hopped in a quick car to Nice, toted our luggage across a few cobblestoned streets and dove into the local summer fruits—cherries, raspberries, plums and more. We thought we’d hit heaven. And then we discovered the socca, a thick chickpea crepe resembling an Indian version known as the chilla that I regularly whip up in less than 3 minutes. The socca, however, is a bit more dense and simpler—sans the Indian spices. Made with just chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt, it’s not only vegan, it’s gluten free to boot. And piping hot. And chewy. And simply… delicious!

Brunch // Marché Aux Fruits, Légumes et Marée du Cours Saleya

For freshly made and cultivated delights. Think fresh fruits, heavenly socca [pictured above] and Mediterranean sea salts [pictured below]. A simple, vegan’s paradise.

Fancy saving a flight, or simply satiating a craving? Make your own socca, complements of my friend Anna’s “Foodie Underground” recipe, concocted while living the culinary life in Paris.

 

Snacks & sustenance // La Vie Claire grocery store

An essential, in our book, this eco hub is where we purchased all of our organic, vegan and gluten free staples for the week, including the most delightful and wholesome gluten free and vegan bread from a local purveyor, Sojami Garlic and Herb cheese spread (that saved my sustenance while traveling) and the creamiest raw almond butter that we attempted to pack along for the journey back to Amsterdam, to no security avail.

 

Lunch // Koko Green

A fully vegan, raw establishment owned by the kindest couple—Nicholas, from New Zealand, and Mélina, from France—when they discovered how good they felt on a vegan and gluten free diet. Having been fully raw for nearly two years, I know good raw food when I taste it. And, their guacamole with handmade dehydrated chips, followed by a pesto zucchini pasta with walnut meatballs [pictured below] was fresh and light without the oft familiar ‘raw’ essence, reminiscent of overly soaked nuts.

Dinner // Vegan Gorilla

At the top of my ‘must experience’ list for the Cote d’Azur, we hungrily lined up outside this down-to-earth meets gourmet dining spot before opening (having tried to secure a reservation, without phone-operating success.) Run by a duo—from kitchen, to table service to check—we dined on locally made gluten-free bread with cashew spreads, heirloom tomatoes with cashew cheese [pictured below], a socca bowl, a wholesome grain pate and a beautiful le petite strawberry shortcake [pictured below]—with a bottle of vegan Rosé for pairing. It is Nice, afterall.

French Essentials // Mama Baker

Having discovered their bread at Vegan Gorilla, where we dined for dinner, we ventured to this tiny bakery our last morning in Nice, only to discover the gluten free and vegan bread was not to be made that morning. That said, if you’d like to experience it, we recommend contacting them in advance if a knackering for bread (when in France) calls.

Vive la vegan!