Nice Port was lively, to say the least, on this Saturday night in August. The row of restaurants along the Quai des Deux Emmanuel had lined up their tables outside and made sure that a wall of sound surrounded their customers. At a certain point we realized that we were listening to three separate musical tracks coming from different restaurants even though our restaurant mercifully spared us background music. Thank you Paloma Cantine.

The attempt at some calm was not the only welcome touch at Paloma Cantine. I love traditional Niçois dishes like pissaladière, grilled sardines, bagna cauda but sometimes they get a little ho-hum. The modern decor here hinted at the fresh, contemporary touch the chef lent to these local staples. The sardines over polenta appetizer was amplified with delicate mixed greens and really first-rate cherry tomatoes in a savory olive oil based dressing. Nice. My second appetizer was a lovely pissaladière topped with rougets. The portions were not super-copious though, so don’t think you’ll get away with ordering an appetizer and calling it a meal.

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