Château Eza

Château Eza occupies a former 14th-century clifftop residence at the very top of the village, with a hanging terrace that runs along the vertical drop and produces, on a clear summer evening, a sunset view that the more famous La Chèvre d'Or just below cannot match. The hotel has held a Michelin star for over a decade and is a discreet booking favoured by visitors who want the Èze view without the Chèvre d'Or theatre.

Chef Justin Schmitt cooks confident modern French Mediterranean. Tuna tartare with avocado and olive oil; risotto with white truffle and Parmigiano; sea bass with bouillabaisse foam and saffron; aged Aubrac beef with confit shallot and Bordelaise jus; a soufflé au Grand Marnier carried table-side. The tasting menu runs five courses; the à la carte rotates seasonally with the Provençal market.

The wine list is a serious Riviera programme — strong Bordeaux and Burgundy benches, deep Provence rosé section, a Champagne row that runs to vintage Krug and Salon, and an unusual Italian Piedmont and Tuscany section that pairs well with the chef's risotto and beef dishes. Sommelier Bruno Costa is happy to walk through the cellar at the table for any guest interested in the longer version.

Service is formal in the international Riviera register, runs at a careful pace, and handles the celebration tables (which the room sees a great many of) with practiced complicity. The terrace seats fewer than thirty; sunset slots in July and August book six weeks ahead. It is the most reliably special-occasion view dinner in the village, and the more enjoyable of the two top rooms by some margin.

Château Eza is the milestone-birthday dinner Èze was made for. The clifftop terrace at sunset, the warm summer evening, the slow five-course pacing, the bottle of Provence rosé or Côte-Rôtie poured by a sommelier complicit in the moment — every element of a Riviera celebration is present. For a milestone birthday or anniversary that needs the Mediterranean itself to do the heavy work, this is the second-most-decisive table in Èze and arguably the more enjoyable one.