Restaurant ONICE

Opened by Argentine Florencia Montes and Italian Lorenzo Ragni, both alumni of Mauro Colagreco's kitchens at Mirazur (3 Michelin stars), ONICE is Nice's gastronomic revelation of recent years and now a 1 Michelin star 2025.
Set on a discreet street in the Antiquaires district, between the old town and Port Lympia, this intimate table (barely 30 covers) embodies a new vision of gastronomy: rooted in its territory, respectful of nature's cycles, deeply personal.

The concept is crystal clear: a single menu, either 5 or 7 stages, that changes daily according to market arrivals and seasons. No fixed carte, the cuisine responds to the morning's vegetables, local catch, herbs from the Nice hinterland hills.
The two chefs work together with precision and complementarity: Florencia's Latin sensitivity, Lorenzo's Italian rigour, to produce dishes of great finesse and simplicity.

ONICE, from the Italian word for onyx, that black precious stone that protects and imparts positive energy, is aptly named: it is a confidential gem, intense and of great value.
The cuisine is concentrated, precise, without flourishes.
No excessive décorum, just the produce, the technique, and two chefs who tell their story through each plate.

Menu & Dining

5-stage menu (€125): the short menu, ideal for a first discovery. Served Wednesday to Sunday evenings.
7-stage menu (€145): the complete signature menu.
Wine pairings available as supplement (Provençal and international cellar).
Lunch Saturday and Sunday only. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Reservation essential — online system on the official website (waiting list available).
Cancellation less than 48h: €100 per person.

Atmosphere

Intimate, pared-back and focused. The room is minimalist, a few tables, soft lighting, natural materials. The emphasis is on the cuisine and the relationship between chefs and their guests. The front-of-house team is discreet, attentive and passionate. You come to ONICE to be guided, not to choose.
Trust in the chefs is the condition of a successful experience.

Visitor reviews

Highlights: Onice earns consistent praise for the creativity and precision of its cooking. Visitors appreciate a restaurant that commits fully to its own identity: a chef, Florencia, whose signature weaves Japanese, Italian and Argentinian influences with the local produce of the Nice region. Each dish is described as considered, balanced and visually polished. The seven-course menu is regularly cited as a coherent progression, with flavours building from one plate to the next without repetition. Many guests highlight the small touches that frame the meal: the amuse-bouches that open the evening, the sweets that close it, and a menu updated every month based on what's available. Several regulars mention returning within weeks of their first visit, which says a great deal. The sommelier is mentioned by name in a striking number of reviews, written in French, English, German and Italian alike. Guests appreciate her precise recommendations, genuine enthusiasm and ability to suggest pairings that genuinely lift the dishes. The seven-course wine pairing is frequently described as one of the highlights of the evening. The service overall is described as young, attentive and professional without stiffness. The team explains each dish, adapts to allergies, dietary preferences and special requests. One guest mentions a menu adapted for a pregnant guest, another for a seafood allergy. These quiet adjustments, handled without fuss, contribute to an atmosphere in which guests feel genuinely looked after.

Areas for improvement: The restaurant's layout comes up regularly in more nuanced reviews. Some guests seated in the basement level find the space narrower, warmer and less airy than the ground floor dining room as the evening progresses. With around thirty covers in total, the proximity between tables can be noticeable when the room is full. It is not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing — specifying a seating preference at the time of booking is advisable. A handful of guests mention a brisk pace of service on the seven-course menu: dishes can follow one another without much breathing room between sequences. One further point raised occasionally: the wine list, whose entry-level bottles are considered expensive by some guests relative to the quality offered at that price point.

Overall impression: In just a few years, Onice has built a serious reputation, driven by a distinctive cuisine and a team that genuinely believes in what it does. Chef Florencia has created something rare: a Michelin-starred restaurant on a human scale, open to its kitchen, without unnecessary distance or protocol. Guests arrive from across Europe and beyond, and many leave convinced the restaurant deserves a second star. That kind of consensus takes time to build. For a fine dining evening in Nice that genuinely goes its own way, Onice delivers on its promise.