A passer-by stops on the terrace. The storefront is not yet installed, the teams inside are busy. “When do you open?” asks the passerby. This scene is repeated several dozen times a day in the port of Beaulieu, where the announced rebirth of the African Queen is arousing curiosity.
The restaurant is an institution on the Berlugan port and, for more than half a century, has welcomed both owners of pointus boats and yachts to come and enjoy a Niçoise salad or a pizza cooked over a wood fire, the main dishes on the menu.
“Stay faithful”
The summer of 2023 definitely seems to be riding a wave revival golden years of the Côte d’Azur. After the reopening of Maona on the beach at Monte-Carlo Beach and the Pirate at Cap Martin, here is a third establishment, symbol of this era when stars and anonymous people alike liked to come and dine, has resurfaced.
From this Monday, the new African Queen will welcome its first customers. Closed last December, the restaurant is now owned by shareholders of the Principality of Monaco: Riccardo Giraudi, Philippe Schriqui and Patrick Gioannini. “I came by moped, teenager, to eat a pizza, it was the place to be”, says the latter, a smile on his face.
The trio of associates, already partners in other establishments, jumped at the chance in the fall of 2022. It must be said that the brand, founded in 1969, is one of the few institutions that lasts on the Côte d’Azur. Thanks to a legend maintained for thirty years by the owners Annie and Gilbert Vissian who sold their shares to these investors from Monaco.
The opportunity was great. “We are lucky to arrive in an establishment that exists and our ambition was to give it a second life, refreshing the concept, while remaining faithful to the parent company, keeping the atmosphere, the cuisine and the team. estime Patrick Joannini.
The location and reputation of the African Queen brand was indeed of interest to several catering groups. “It’s the only restaurant that has this prestige between Nice and Monaco”, recalls Riccardo Giraudi, who has used all the expertise of his group, which has around thirty restaurants in Monaco and around the world, including the famous Beefbar, to undertake this unique project in Beaulieu.
New decor, preserved atmosphere
Objective: to redo everything while respecting the spirit of the place and to erase obsolete aspects. The Monegasque firm of architects Humbert&Poyet took up the challenge by reviewing the plans, to design a more fluid kitchen; rearrange the space of the crooked room, and integrate the regulatory white aluminum pergola of the port quays and the lines of the terrace open to the sea.
The decoration stage provided warmth: rattan chairs, wooden siding, emerald earthenware, safari-style zebra textiles. And it works to revive the cozy atmosphere of the establishment. Banana trees and tropical plants must find their place this weekend to perfect the atmosphere. The new developments on the port of Beaulieu have also made it possible to lay the foundations for a cocktail bar on the roof of the restaurant, which might open next summer.
On the card, the establishment’s iconic mermaid logo has been reworked. But the dishes remain largely the same, presented on large menus where the new owners have pushed the coquetry by displaying the prices in euros and francs, to give a vintage cachet.
The new space now makes it possible to set up 270 seats that the new investors have chosen for the time being to operate only at dinner time to break in. The objective is to eventually offer a non-stop service all day long, which made the African Queen unique.
To succeed in their bet, keeping the DNA, Riccardo Giraudi, Philippe Schriqui and Patrick Gioannini also wanted to keep the team in place among the sixty employees. “They are the same, they know all the customers and the people of the port, this is not the case in many places”, emphasizes Patrick Gioannini who, as a catering professional who has worked for thirty years in the United States with the greatest French chefs, knows the importance of a solid staff. “I even found Ali, the historical pizza maker of the house, who worked in another restaurant in Villefranche and who agreed to come back”.
To cook his pizzas, a brand new oven has been installed in the heart of the kitchen, and still fueled by a wood fire!
The poster for the 1951 film, which gave the restaurant its name, has returned to its place in the room.Photo Cedric Verany.
From Beaulieu-sur-Mer to Dubai
It has become an obligatory passage or almost for all major catering brands: exporting internationally. And the new owners of the African Queen are no exception to the rule.
After their reopening in the port of Beaulieu, the three shareholders plan to open a new African Queen 5,000 kilometers away, in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where the largest restaurant chains in the world are present. “We thought regarding it without thinking regarding it”comments Patrick Gioannini, “and Riccardo [Giraudi]who has experience in international development, told us regarding a huge opportunity”.
In this case, a site on a beach in Dubai, a project around which the three partners are starting to work on the location and the outlines of the project that they hope to see hatch in the coming months.
“It’s extremely difficult to establish a name and a brand in the world of catering”confided Riccardo Giraudi in Monaco-Morning last October. “I’m lucky to have created one with Beefbar and to operate it around the world. And African Queen is clearly a name that shines for customers in the Middle East, England or Eastern Europe. The most important thing is always the concept. Regardless of the chef or the owner, in our group, the star is the brand!”
A film with Humphrey Bogart
Before the international export, the trio still worried regarding whether the African Queen name would be exploitable, on a politically correct level, in the world.
The brand takes its name from a feature film by John Huston released in 1951, The African Queen, with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn embarked on an epic shot partly in the current Democratic Republic of Congo. And in the movie, African Queen is the name of a boat. “We also watched the film”adds Patrick Gioannini, “to make sure that there was no racist or colonialist connotation that might be harmful, and it is not, it is a very beautiful film”.
A film whose poster has found its place on a wall of the new restaurant.
