Christophe Cussac Sets a Generous Table at Les Ambassadeurs in Monaco

I’m holding my breath as an enormous wooden trolley, piled high with bread and an unreasonable mound of butter, rolls towards the table. I’d been aware of the famous bread trolley at Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac prior to dining there, mostly thanks to Instagram. But nothing could have prepared me for the spectacle in person. The restaurant’s chef, Christophe Cussac, introduced the trolley when Les Ambassadeurs re-opened in Monaco’s Hôtel Métropole in 2023. 

The mahogany trolley features 19 varieties of bread, from focaccia to fougasse to brioche rolls, which are baked daily by six bakers. The choice is overwhelming, as a server showcases and explains each type. My husband and I, attempting to preserve stomach space for the rest of the tasting menu, select six different types of bread, including a hunk of fougasse and a crisp mini baguette. It feels like a lot on the small bread plate, especially when accompanied by a massive dollop of Bordier butter and a dish of olive oil from Bajardo, Italy. But six varieties barely scratch the surface of what’s possible for guests at Les Ambassadeurs. 

“The bread trolley was created to make a real ‘wow’ moment at the very beginning of the service,” Cussac tells Observer. “I love the moment when it enters the restaurant because it immediately catches the guests’ attention and sparks their curiosity. It is an integral part of the theater of the meal.”

The chef wanted the trolley to showcase a “real diversity” of bread—the most impressive feature of the course. “We worked on different shapes, textures and flavors so that every guest could find something they enjoyed, but also feel tempted to discover several different breads,” he says. “There isn’t one particular bread that has a greater personal meaning for me. What I enjoy most is the ritual of choosing.” 

That luxury of choice is at the center of the experience at Les Ambassadeurs, which offers both a tasting menu (€295 per person) and an à la carte menu. The cheese course arrives on a trolley with a rotating selection of French cheeses that comes from Fromagerie Métin. There are desserts on the menu, but there is also yet another trolley that’s filled with fruit tarts, chocolate mousse, cakes and pastries. Cussac wants guests to have a strong memory of their meal, but not simply for the food.

“Above all, I want to create a genuine emotion,” he says. “I don’t want guests to leave simply thinking that they have dined in a great restaurant. I would like them to leave with the feeling that they have truly experienced a special moment. That’s why conviviality is so important to me. The open kitchen, the bread and sweet carts, the interaction with the brigade—all of this is part of the experience.” 

Marco Tognon, the restaurant’s manager, tells me separately that Cussac is a chef who is “really, really generous.” It’s on display in the portions, on the trolleys and in the dishes themselves, which are generous not just in size but in quality of ingredients. That generosity comes through in the glug of olive oil, made specially for only the restaurant and the Prince of Monaco and unavailable anywhere else, and in the focus on sourcing from high-end farms. “It’s important for us that guests can choose whatever they want,” Tognon says. “We don’t like to say no to anyone.” 

Les Ambassadeurs originally opened in the Hôtel Métropole in the 1920s. It was a culinary destination for decades, taking on several forms over the years. In 2004, it opened as Restaurant Joël Robuchon, an award-winning fine-dining eatery by French chef Joël Robuchon. Robuchon invited Cussac to join him there as head chef. “We worked together to create a new vision of gastronomy at the hotel,” Cussac says. He adds that after more than 20 years at Hôtel Métropole, one of Monaco’s most historic hotels, he is “deeply attached to this establishment.”

After three years of being open, Restaurant Joël Robuchon earned two Michelin stars in one go. The restaurant closed its doors in 2019 after Robuchon’s death in the fall of 2018. After an extensive renovation, which expanded and opened up the kitchen to overlook the dining room, Cussac debuted his own version of Les Ambassadeurs. It was an immediate success, winning two Michelin stars within nine months of its opening. 

“After all the years I had spent alongside Joël, it was important to create an identity of my own while respecting that heritage,” Cussac says. “For me, it’s not a break with the past, but rather a new chapter. We retained certain elements that were meaningful, while building a cuisine that reflects who I am today.” 

That cuisine is broadly Mediterranean, with hints of Spain, Italy and Monaco itself in the dishes and an emphasis on seafood. But it also incorporates many elements of Cussac’s French heritage. The chef was born in Paris and trained at the École Hôtelière Jean Drouant. He first worked with Robuchon in 1977 as a kitchen secretary at the Hôtel Concorde La Fayette, in a role that Cussac says didn’t really exist at the time. But it put him in the heart of Robuchon’s kitchen, and, although Cussac had grown up cooking with his grandmother, it was working with Robuchon that made him want to become a chef.

“[Kitchen secretary] was a role that had an administrative dimension, but it allowed me to observe how a great kitchen operated and to work very closely with him,” Cussac says. “I discovered another dimension of the profession: precision, creativity, high standards and the ability to create emotion through a dish. Joël had an extraordinary attention to detail. Nothing escaped him.”

Cussac went on to work with Robuchon at Hôtel Nikko and Jamin in Paris. He points to Robuchon’s precision as a key thing he learned, but also says he admired the chef’s respect for produce. He remembers Robuchon guiding him thoughtfully without ever telling him exactly what to do. “Joël could taste a dish and simply say that it was not what he expected, without necessarily explaining how to correct it,” Cussac recalls. “It was up to me to think, understand and find the solution. He also taught me something fundamental: a great dish should leave a lasting impression. If a guest remembers a flavor several days or even several years later, then the chef has succeeded.”

It was that approach that Cussac brought with him to Abbaye Saint-Michel in Tonnerre, France, in 1984, where he stayed for over a decade. In the restaurant, then owned by his family, he developed his own style while still taking on Robuchon’s teachings. He was awarded two Michelin stars within the first two years.

“That period helped me understand that I wanted to cook in a sincere way,” he says. “I love produce, dishes that have a story, recipes that people recognize and that can create an emotion. It was probably there that my philosophy truly took shape: a dish can be highly technical without ever being complicated in what it expresses.”

These days, Cussac focuses on simplicity. His golden rule at Les Ambassadeurs is to keep each dish to around three signature flavors. He cites the sardine dish as the best example of what he wants to do. The salty fish is served with Imperial caviar, fennel and Menton lemon. “Every element has its place and contributes something precise,” he says. “Over time, we have tried to remove anything that was not necessary. That is ultimately the challenge for me: creating a dish that appears effortless, when in fact it is the result of a great deal of work and many trials.”

He adds, “The sardine is an accessible and much-loved product. Turning it into a two-Michelin-starred dish while preserving its identity is precisely what I enjoy about it.”

Another signature dish is the sea bream tartare. The elegant plate—the initial bite on the tasting menu after the bread trolley and a few snacks—is comprised of briny raw fish rolled inside a crispy cannelloni shell and coated in a thick layer of caviar. It’s rich but somehow still light. It was created before Les Ambassadeurs opened and has since become an integral part of the menu.

“I wanted a dish that was distinctly Mediterranean and immediately understandable,” Cussac says. “The idea of the caviar cannelloni came from wanting to create a visual surprise while keeping the flavors very clear. The sea bream remains at the heart of the dish, [but] since its creation we have worked on the balance, seasoning and textures.”  

Other courses come from personal experiences or memories. The lobster lasagna was inspired by a visit Cussac took to Portofino with his family, when he was hesitating over what to order at a restaurant. “I saw a beautiful lasagna with rippled pasta sheets being served in the dining room,” he recalls. “It immediately caught my attention, so I decided to order it. When I tasted it, I discovered that it was a traditional Italian lasagna with pesto.” 

Back in Monaco, he began refining the dish. He combined spinach, rippled sheets of pasta, lobster, tarragon and spianata, a spicy Italian salami. “It’s a good example of how inspiration can come from something very simple,” he says. “You see something, it stays somewhere in the back of your mind, and eventually it becomes your own creation.”

Cussac says his favorite dining memories aren’t necessarily from prestigious restaurants. But the feeling he’s had from them comes through in what he does in his own establishment.

“I remember the roast pork my mother used to make, with tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, thyme and bay leaves, all cooked together in a single casserole,” he recalls. “When she lifted the lid at the table, the aroma filled the whole room. That memory has stayed with me because it represented so much more than cooking. It represented family, sharing and emotion. It reminds me why I cook the way I do today. The greatest dishes are not necessarily the most complex. They are the ones that create a memory.”

Cussac still spends a lot of time in the kitchen, although he says he doesn’t have an average day anymore. He divides his time between the kitchen, tastings, working with his teams, working on menus and overseeing the restaurant admin. It’s important to him to pass on his knowledge and mentor younger chefs, as Robuchon did for him. He views cooking as a collective effort, not a singular pursuit, which is one reason he wanted Les Ambassadeurs to have an open kitchen. 

“Passing on knowledge is one of the most important things in our industry,” he says. “I was fortunate that Joël taught me not only about cooking, but also how to observe, how to think and how to become independent. He gave me knowledge, but also confidence and responsibility. I now feel that it is my responsibility to pass that on in turn.”

Cussac adds that keeping Robuchon’s legacy alive does not mean reproducing his cuisine or replicating his dishes. Instead, it means translating his ideals in a new way. “He taught me to respect the product, to be precise, demanding and always looking to improve,” Cussac says. “These principles can be passed on while allowing each young chef to develop their own identity. If I can help a young cook become curious, independent and passionate about this industry, then I feel that I am passing on a part of what Joël gave me.”

Repeat guests are a mainstay at Les Ambassadeurs, according to the general manager, and it’s easy to see why—it’s hard not to be enticed by the experience as well as the cuisine. Our table was on the restaurant’s balcony with a view of the sunset—a memorable backdrop to the meal. Even more memorable was that bread trolley, an example of opulent hospitality rooted in the idea of saying “yes.” “I always come back to the same principle,” Cussac says. “If we can make someone happy without compromising the quality of what we serve, then why say no?”