Menton: where the French and Italian rivieras meet

“It’s not France, it’s not Italy, it’s Menton.” The seaside town on the French‑Italian border has worn many identities: once annexed by Italy during the second world war, it has also belonged to the Grimaldis of Monaco and to the kingdom of Sardinia, before becoming French after a public vote in 1860.

Today, ignoring the colours of Il Tricolore and Le Tricolore, almost everything is painted in shades of yellow in homage to the town’s lemon crop. Mauro Colagreco, the chef at the Mirazur restaurant a few steps from the border, brings visitors into the hills to meet his lemon and citrus suppliers.

He points out that Menton’s microclimate, terraced hills and sandy soil make the fruit particularly juicy and that the Menton lemon has a distinctive small curvy fold at one end; Colagreco uses them alongside Star Ruby grapefruits, yuzu confit and kumquats in his kitchen.

France, Menton

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