It’s a great reward for Jean Haidar. A recognition he didn’t expect. “Last year, we were in the 90sremembers the chef of the Lebanese restaurant Le Cèdre, on Boulevard Risso in Nice. I didn’t think we were going to move up this much in the rankings.”
Of the 100 best addresses of the year 2024 in France, Le Cèdre occupies eighth place, just after Marsan by Hélène Darroze in Paris. “She must not even know who we are, s’amuse Jean Haidar. It’s a nice surprise! We still got a score of 9.7 out of 10.”
On Tripadvisor, the establishment ranks 14 out of 2,014 restaurants in Nice. “Since The Fork’s ranking fell, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing, he confides. I even closed the app because I couldn’t keep track of reservations.”
“Offer something that changes from classic Lebanese”
Jean Haidar and his family arrived in France in 1990. They started in Alsace before arriving in Nice in 2018. A change of life for the man who had run a restaurant in Strasbourg for 17 years.
“We came to spend a week’s vacation in April, he says. And that’s when my wife and I made the decision to come and settle here.”
They then sold their restaurant in less than three months and arrived in Nice.
Jean also took the opportunity to give his establishment the name that he had not been able to give to the previous one because it was already taken. The cedar, symbol of Lebanon, then becomes that of his new life in Nice.
“We wanted to settle outside the city center and work for pleasure, explains Jean Haidar. The idea was to offer something different from the classic Lebanese restaurant.”
He defines his cuisine as “sophisticated and revisited [sa] way”.
-There are two menus to choose from on the menu. The classic (33.50 euros), with three courses, highlights Lebanese specialties for purists: falafels, donuts, hummus, eggplant caviar… The gourmand (39.50 euros) is made up of four courses and is prepared according to the chef’s wishes. The dishes evolve and change regularly.
Jean’s little favorite: the cedar breeze. “It’s a dessert composed of a pistachio cream with a mixture of red fruits, raspberries and lemon,” says the chef. “You have to eat it in one bite to feel all the flavors at the same time.”
“We are simple and professional”
But, Le Cèdre is also, and above all, a family story. Anthony, Jean’s son, joins him behind the stove. “We are both in the kitchen at lunchtime for all the preparations and in the evening I go to the dining room for service,” explains Jean. “This allows me to have free time to develop new recipes.”
At their side, we find Nadir the kitchen assistant but also Linda and Maria in the dining room.
If Jean Haidar is on cloud nine, he has his feet firmly on the ground. He even expresses a little concern at being among the upper echelons of gastronomy: “I wouldn’t want this ranking to give people the impression that we are a palace. We are simple and professional. Our cuisine is meticulous but we are not a Michelin-starred restaurant.”
Modest, he is also altruistic and very invested in the Mon Liban Azur association with which he has already participated several times in humanitarian aid operations for Lebanon. At the end of 2024, the restaurant once again worked by organizing two solidarity dinners.
Find out more: 4 boulevard Risso. Open every evening from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., except Sunday. 04.93.26.75.50.
Three other Nice restaurants are ranked: La Cantine de Mémé (19th), L’Antidote (27th) and Maison Joia (34th).
