La Spiaggetta dei Balzi Rossi isn’t removed from the French-Italian border.
I actually have never passed through border control in beachwear, but sooner or later last June I did just that as I crossed from France into Italy, ready for a day at Balzi Rossi Beachone in every of Italy’s legendary beach clubs.
No summer trip to Italy is complete with out a visit to a surf club or lido (within the plural also often known as bathroomor Bathing establishments) and there are millions of them along the country’s 8,000 kilometers of coastline. These clubs have been popular hangouts for the reason that nineteenth century; after World War II, they helped establish the country’s dolce vita, when megastars of the era like Brigitte Bardot and Clark Cable frolicked at La Fontelina in Capri and Audrey Hepburn and Aristotle Onassis basked within the sun (or shade of a parasol) of the Lido di Venezia. Since visits to a seaside oasis in July and August are almost a constitutional birthright, one Italian government official made a degree of telling her countrymen in the course of the strict Covid lockdowns:“This summer we’re going to the beach.”
I used to be in Menton, where Vera Kovacs, the founding father of La Spiaggetta, who now runs it along with her husband, music producer Gualtiero Gatto, picked me up in a vehicle that appears like a golf cart but is definitely a road-going Ape (the Italian word for bee), a compact vehicle popular in Italy. Like many stylish Italians, Kovacs is wearing summer casual clothes with a high shine and tasteful flair – an elegant orange cotton summer dress, a number of selection gold jewelry pieces and a pair of glamorous Riviera sunglasses. Kovacs skilfully steers the Ape toward the border, where the border police wave us through.
The Balzi Rossi cliffs at dawn.
It looks like only a number of moments before we reach the location of La Spiaggetta, positioned within the Italian village of Grimaldi Inferiore (a district of Ventimiglia). Kovacs points to very large slabs of rock that form a prehistoric terrace that juts out into the ocean. “Fossils are still found there,” she says.
The location of La Spiaggetta is exclusive for several reasons, because of its location near the Balzi Rossi Cavessome of the remarkable archaeological sites in Europe, containing stays of the earliest Europeans, including a Cro-Magnon man. The excavations were carried out on behalf of Monegasque princes (Florestan I and Albert I) and the location is typically described as a Paleolithic Park. It also houses a Museum of Prehistory, inaugurated in 1960 by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco.
La Spiaggetta dei Balzi Rossi before the arrival of the day.
Although there are numerous beaches on the Côte d’Azur, La Spiaggetta lures the French and Mona Lisa residents across the border, often by yacht, to experience a novel piece of Riviera paradise. The club opens just in time for Monaco Grand Prix (this yr May 24-26), an unofficial begin to summer within the region.
And you understand why the French sail by, accompanied by weary city dwellers who come from Milan or Turin—La Spiaggetta is intimately sized, exclusive, but has a friendly atmosphere, because of Kovacs and Gatto, a friendly host with an easy-going urbanity. The couple are there every single day in season and befriend a lot of their guests. At lunch, a well-traveled American couple sitting nearby volunteer that they’ve been regulars for years and, during a transient chat on the table, call La Spiaggetta “the best.” “I like getting to know people,” Kovacs says, “and bringing them together.” Celebrities come to the club, but their presence is often unobtrusive, devoid of paparazzi.
Gualtiero Gatti and Vera Kovacs.
Another aspect of La Spiaggetta’s appeal is that there isn’t any seaside equivalent of the theater-style balcony seating. There are only two or three rows of deckchairs here, somewhat than the handfuls or more present in another clubs in Italy, where from row 17B you may catch a glimpse of the water through a thicket of umbrellas. Another advantage is that La Spiaggetta looks very very like a bay that may only be reached by boat, and although many guests arrive by dinghy, the club is definitely reached by automotive or Ape.
The transparent aquamarine blue of the beach.
Before lunch, I take a dip within the sea, where on sunny days the water swirls with colours, making a kaleidoscope of aquamarine and blue-green. The waves are gentle—you haven’t got to contend with the crashing waves of the Atlantic here, unless there is a storm. I float on my back for some time, catching occasional glimpses of the French coast. When I finally get out, the air is pleasantly humid so it isn’t cold, and the beach is slowly filling up. Used to the sand of the east coast, I forgot to bring waders to take care of the pebbles underfoot, which a lifeguard quickly fixes by bringing me a fresh pair so I do not wobble along the shore looking like I’ve had too many Aperol Spritzes. The European guests don’t seem to wish them.
Kovacs, a pioneering businesswoman on the Riviera, opened the club in 1982. Although she was born removed from the Italian coast in South Tyrol — her mother was from Liguria, her father from Trieste — she later lived near Balzi Rossi, which gave her the concept for La Spiaggetta. “Back then, it was very simple: four workers, myself included, a couple of umbrellas, deck chairs and a bar with a few drinks, sandwiches and salads,” she says. In 1998, she met Gualtiero Gatti, owner of G7 Music Group, and commenced a collaboration that spanned each corporations. Today, La Spiaggetta is thought not just for its idyllic location, but additionally for its vigorous evening parties and musical performances. According to some Instagram reels, completely satisfied hour here looks very cheerful indeed, with loads of dancing day and night. Over time, La Spiaggetta grew to its current staff of 24 employees.
You can arrive by tender boat or automotive.
People come for the unique beach and the parties, but additionally for the restaurant and its “Pieds-dans-l’eau-Dining”, with a kitchen led by Chef Nicola Colonna, who hails from Puglia, one other Italian region that knows rather a lot in regards to the sea. He designs menus that reap the benefits of the wealthy bounty of the Riviera di Ponente/Cote d’Azur. You can have breakfast (full, continental, panini) at La Spiaggetta from 8:30 a.m., then head to a leisurely, sweet, do nothing Lunch until 6pm. Dinner is served on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Not surprisingly, the restaurant is fish-focused, with an oyster bar and fresh catch, including the coveted Sanremo prawns. Lunch options include quite a lot of fish tartare and tuna ceviche, and pastas comparable to gnocchi with clams and plum tomatoes. The gourmet hamburger is served with flavourful sides – aioli sauce, crispy fried artichokes and caponata. In the evening, there may be a special lobster risotto, spaghetti with sea urchins and mains comparable to grilled catch and Florentine steak.
The beach restaurant offers a menu focused on seafood, including local specialties comparable to Sanremo prawns.
For lunch there are numerous fish tartare and tuna ceviche, together with sophisticated pasta dishes.
La Spiaggetta also attracts a world audience for its film screenings (on Thursdays) and theme parties that coincide with major events, comparable to Tthe UEFA European Championship final on July 14th or the national summer holiday Ferragosto. Other events toast to iconic eras of the Riviera, comparable to the Dolce Vita in Nineteen Fifties Italy, St Tropez within the Seventies and even Twenties America, where a Great Gatsby-style banquet is planned. (The novel’s creator, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in fact visited many nearby locations on the Côte d’Azur.)
There are film screenings on the beach, often on Thursday evenings.
If you may’t tear yourself away from this enchanting coastal oasis after a day or evening visit, nearby La Spiaggetta offers rental apartments starting from suites to studios for stays of no less than two to seven days.
