03 July, 2008

Le Speakeasy, Nice, France

Le Speakeasy is a small cafe/restaurant located in central Nice. It is the only vegan restaurant on the Côte d’Azur. The two of us had a fantastic 3 course meal there. The food was delicious, nutritious and definitely good value (total cost around 30 Euro).

The atmosphere was homely, but it also had a strong political element to it, with animal rights and veg*n quotes posted around the place. It was colourly decorated and included a mural of a French street scene from earlier times. The restaurant seated only 4 tables of up to 12 people in total.

The food itself was just what we needed after the vegetarian diet we had been eating in France of cheese, dairy and egg. I had a vegan pate provincial style with olives and bread for starters, seitan with a rice pilau and a very fresh salad for main, and a pear tart for dessert. My husband had miso soup, potato/vegetable pie with salad, and the vegan banana and sultana icecream. We both had peppermint teas too.





Le Speakeasy is run by an expat Californian lady, who we spent a while talking with at the end of our meal. By taking a political stand against the exploitation of animals, she is certainly challenging French norms. We also met another traveller from the US - Roger - veg*n restaurants are a great place to meet fellow veg*ns. We never got your details Roger - we hope you had a great trip!

Le Speakeasy on Happy Cow