A new arrival that already feels like it has always been here
There is a particular pleasure in being early to a restaurant. In finding it before the word is fully out, before the reservation window stretches three weeks ahead, before it becomes the answer everyone gives when someone asks where to eat in Sainte-Maxime. Le Jardin opened on 13 March 2025 in the centre of town, and we think it is at that stage right now. Our Riviera expert Joanna sat down with Boris and Jean Luc from Le Jardin to find out what the restaurant is actually built on. What she came back with convinced us this is one of the most interesting new openings on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
"I want every customer to feel comfortable. I welcome everyone as if I were receiving them in my own home. For me, dining is first and foremost an experience, a memory. Eating simply for the sake of eating is unimportant. What matters is living a moment."
Behind the scenes of Le Jardin
Boris trained at the hotel school in Toulon - his very first placement was in Sainte-Maxime, and the setting stayed with him. The years that followed took him to Saint-Barthélemy and London, but he kept coming back. He worked at Les Planches, then Les Petits Galets, and fifteen years ago met Gordon, with whom he always wanted to build a project. Le Jardin is that project, and it opened on 13 March 2025.
"I initially followed a traditional baccalaureate," Boris told Joanna, "and then after one season, it was a real revelation." He started in the kitchen before switching to a vocational diploma focused on marketing and management, and over time became more involved in the operational side of restaurants.
"I want every customer to feel comfortable," he said. "I welcome everyone as if I were receiving them in my own home. For me, dining is first and foremost an experience, a memory. Eating simply for the sake of eating is unimportant. What matters is living a moment."
Chef Jean-Luc Tournon is originally from Grenoble. He ran two businesses before moving abroad, then returned to France to open a gastronomic restaurant and a brasserie. After around ten years he settled in Sainte-Maxime, having worked in various roles including as a private chef. He also spent five years with the Annie Famose group, where he worked alongside Éric Frechon and Alexandre Delage - an experience he cites as an influence on his cooking. The restaurant has now been open for a year.
"The restaurant industry is constantly evolving," he told Joanna. "You need support and to stay informed in order to continue to improve."
What nomadic cuisine actually means on the plate
Jean-Luc's concept is what he calls nomadic cuisine - food that draws particularly on Lebanese and Greek influences and uses spices with intention. "Our customers want to travel through their food," he told Joanna. "Today, what sets the restaurant apart is its exploration of several culinary influences. The concept is still evolving - and that is exactly how we want it."
There is no fixed signature dish, and Jean-Luc is clear that this is deliberate. "In a nomadic kitchen, the menu changes regularly. We like to introduce our customers to as many different flavours as possible." He does however have one personal fondness he is willing to name: "I have a particular affection for risotto." A recent lunchtime service featured a squid ink risotto alongside Arctic char fillet, with deviled eggs to start and crème brûlée to finish.
The kitchen runs four people: one on the hot side, one on the cold side, one on the pass and Jean-Luc himself. The menu is adapted constantly according to the seasons and the number of covers.
Fish features prominently, though approached with care. "Initially we were inspired by beach restaurants that offer a lot of fish," Jean-Luc told Joanna, "but I wanted us to stand out by offering more elaborate and different dishes." The menu includes fish fillets and lobster, with very few if any whole fish.
The wine cellar at Le Jardin | a statement of intent
The wine list at Le Jardin is one of the things Boris feels most strongly about. "Wine is a passion we want to share," he told Joanna. "We don't want to do what everyone else does, but to assert our own identity." "We aim to build a relationship of trust with our customers," he continued, "both in terms of what we offer to eat and to drink. We are constantly searching to stand out."
When to go and what to order
Le Jardin is open year round, every day except Wednesday. The weekday lunch menu offers starter, main course and dessert for a very reasonable price. "We put a real effort into this formula," Jean-Luc told Joanna. "The quality of the product is essential to creating a good dish." The restaurant seats 90 inside, rising to 120 when the terrace is open. From mid-June onwards, the restaurant is open evenings only. "With the heat, lunch is not possible," Boris confirmed. Evening service runs until 10pm. Booking ahead is essential in peak season.
"We aim to build a relationship of trust with our customers, both in terms of what we offer to eat and to drink. We are constantly searching to stand out."
"The goal is to be as efficient as possible and to be pioneers," Boris told Joanna. It is an ambitious thing to say about a restaurant that opened thirteen months ago in a town that already has good options. But sitting with the food, the wine and the room, it does not feel like an overclaim. Go in the evening. Let Boris choose a wine. Tell Jean-Luc you are happy to be guided. That is the way to eat here.
À bientôt,
