Le Plongeoir Nice: The Restaurant on a Rock
Who owns and runs Nice's restaurant on a rock, what it serves, what it costs and how to book it before the 2026 season ends on 15 November.
Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0
Le Plongeoir is a seasonal Mediterranean restaurant on a rock more than 6 m above the sea, at 60 boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice. Marc Dussoullier opened the current restaurant in 2015 and runs it through his company MASSENA QUATRIEME. In 2026 it is open daily from 12:00 to 21:30 until 15 November. It does not serve burgers. And no, it has nothing to do with chef Michaël Fulci.
I put this profile together on 8 October 2026 from the restaurant’s official site and legal notice, the Nice Côte d’Azur tourist office, Gilles Pudlowski’s reviews (2017 and 2019), Paris ZigZag (2023), Pure France and Petit Futé. I have not eaten there, so I give no rating of my own. Every fact below carries its source and date. Anything I could not confirm is flagged or left out.
Le Plongeoir Nice at a glance
Le Plongeoir is a restaurant on a rock in Nice, open for lunch and dinner from 12 March to 15 November 2026, serving seasonal Mediterranean food.
| Detail | Information (checked 2026-10-08) |
|---|---|
| Address | 60 boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, France |
| Phone | +33 (0)4 93 26 53 02 |
| contact@leplongeoir.com | |
| 2026 season | 12 March to 15 November, daily 12:00 to 21:30 |
| Cuisine | Mediterranean, seasonal, market-driven; vegetarian and gluten-free options |
| Owner | Marc Dussoullier, via MASSENA QUATRIEME (SAS) |
| Le Vivier lounge bar | Closed; reopens May 2027 |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair accessible |
| Label | Qualité Tourisme |
| Aggregated rating | 8.6/10 from 2,820 reviews (Petit Futé) |
Sources: official site, legal notice, Nice Côte d’Azur tourist office, Petit Futé.
The history of Le Plongeoir: from a boat to a diving board to a restaurant
The rock of Le Plongeoir has carried a bar-restaurant on a boat in the Belle Époque, an Art Deco diving platform after 1941, and the current restaurant since 2015.
Timeline of the Le Plongeoir rock: the boat L’Inflexible at the end of the 19th century, René Livieri’s Art Deco diving platform after 1941, the 2015 restaurant (demolition date unconfirmed). Horizontal on desktop, stacked on mobile. (Table: Burger Breton, sources leplongeoir.com, Pure France, Paris ZigZag)
End of the 19th century: the boat called L’Inflexible
At the end of the 19th century, a fishing boat nicknamed “L’Inflexible” sat on the rock more than 6 m above the water. A footbridge linked it to the shore, and it served as a bar-restaurant (official site, Pure France). Paris ZigZag dates the boat’s arrival to the 1870s. Other sources only say the end of the century, so the exact year is unconfirmed.
After 1941: René Livieri’s Art Deco diving platform
The boat was destroyed in 1941. Architect René Livieri then built a three-level Art Deco diving platform on the rock. That is the “plongeoir” that gave the place its name. Pure France and Paris ZigZag say it later fell into disrepair and was demolished, without giving a date (Pure France, Paris ZigZag). Diving boards still stand on the rock today. I could not establish whether they are Livieri’s originals or a later rebuild.
René Livieri’s Art Deco diving platform of about 1940 on the Le Plongeoir rock at Mont Boron, Nice, the structure that gave the restaurant its name (photo December 2016, 1024×683). (Photo: Fred Romero (corno.fulgur75), CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/129231073@N06/32742233456))
2015: Marc Dussoullier reopens the rock
Marc Dussoullier created the current restaurant on the site in 2015 (Pure France, Paris ZigZag). Some listings claim the restaurant opened in 1954. That date fits nowhere in the boat, 1941 and 2015 timeline and has no primary source, so I leave it out.
Le Plongeoir restaurant in Nice in October 2023, the dining platform reopened by Marc Dussoullier in 2015 (4428×3272, lazy). (Photo: Pierrette13, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plongeoir\_2023.jpg))
Who owns Le Plongeoir in Nice?
Le Plongeoir is owned and run by Marc Dussoullier through MASSENA QUATRIEME, a SAS registered in Cannes (RCS Cannes B 453 490 500) with its office at 540 avenue de la Plaine, 06250 Mougins.
The legal notice names him as publication director and spells his name DUSSOULLIER, which I follow here. Pure France and Paris ZigZag write “Dussoulier” with one L. The tourist office says “Chef Marc Dussoullier welcomes you”. I read that as owner and host, not head chef.
Who cooks at Le Plongeoir?
The last chef named in published sources is Grégory Mélani, cited in 2019 and again by Paris ZigZag in 2023; the restaurant has not confirmed its 2026 head chef.
The kitchen has changed hands over the years. In 2017 Gilles Pudlowski found chef Frédéric Maillard, with Grégory Mélani as sous-chef and Christophe Prosper as dining-room director. By 2019 Mélani had been chef for two years, and Prosper, formerly of the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, was still running the room (2017 review, 2019 review). I could not confirm Prosper’s current role.
Who cooks at Le Plongeoir: Frédéric Maillard (2017), Grégory Mélani (2019, 2023), 2026 head chef unconfirmed. (Table: Burger Breton, sources Gilles Pudlowski (2017, 2019), Paris ZigZag (2023))
Is Michaël Fulci the chef at Le Plongeoir? A correction
No. Michaël Fulci has no verified connection to Le Plongeoir: he is the chef-owner of Les Terraillers, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Biot.
I started this research expecting to write about Fulci’s cooking on the rock. No source backs that up. Fulci was born in 1980 in Antibes and trained at the Lycée hôtelier Paul Augier in Nice. He then worked under Roger Vergé and Alain Ducasse (Gault&Millau).
His parents, Pierre and Chantal, founded Les Terraillers in Biot in 1978. He became its chef in 2007 and took over the business in 2012. The restaurant says it holds one Michelin star and a Gault&Millau rating of 16.5/20 (Les Terraillers). If it is Fulci’s cooking you are after, book in Biot, not on the rock.
What food does Le Plongeoir serve? Is there a burger?
Le Plongeoir serves seasonal, market-driven Mediterranean cuisine with a focus on fish and seafood, and no burger appears on any menu I checked.
Paris ZigZag (2023) lists courgette flower fritters, herb-crusted mi-cuit tuna, marinated octopus, shrimp or summer truffle risotto, plancha sea bream and grilled sea bass. Pudlowski singled out a Carnaroli risotto with squid in 2017. The tourist office notes vegetarian and gluten-free options.
I looked for a burger on the official site, the tourist office page, both Pudlowski reviews, Paris ZigZag and Restovisio. Nothing. For burgers, start from our Nice city page for burger hunters, which maps the neighbourhoods worth exploring.
How much does a meal at Le Plongeoir cost?
Le Plongeoir does not publish its 2026 prices online; the last dated figures, from 2019, were €29 for the lunch formula, €35 for the lunch menu and about €70 à la carte.
| Year | Lunch formula | Lunch menu | À la carte (approx.) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | €29 | €34 | €55 | Pudlowski, 2 July 2017 |
| 2019 | €29 | €35 | €70 | Pudlowski, 4 October 2019 |
Le Plongeoir Nice prices, 2017 vs 2019 (bar chart): lunch formula €29 then €29, lunch menu €34 then €35, à la carte about €55 then €70. No 2026 prices published. (Chart: Burger Breton, data Gilles Pudlowski (2 July 2017, 4 October 2019))
The lunch formula held at €29. À la carte jumped by about €15 in two years. Two other listings give undated price ranges that contradict each other, so I do not quote them. Expect to pay more than in 2019, and ask for current prices when you book.
Price is what reviewers complain about most. Petit Futé aggregates an 8.6/10 score from 2,820 reviews, with mixed comments on cost. One reviewer paid €7 for a 25 cl Coke.
Le Plongeoir reservation: how and when to book
Book Le Plongeoir by phone on +33 (0)4 93 26 53 02 or by email at contact@leplongeoir.com, and do it before the season closes on 15 November 2026.
- Season: daily from 12:00 to 21:30, 12 March to 15 November 2026. The next season’s dates are not yet published.
- Groups: set menus start at 20 people.
- Private events: Le Rocher seats up to 50 guests and Le Plongeoir up to 40. Le Vivier takes 60 seated or 100 for cocktails.
- Le Vivier lounge bar: the official site says it is closed until May 2027. The tourist office still lists late May to late September 2026, but I go with the restaurant’s own site.
- Access: the restaurant is wheelchair accessible.
Le Plongeoir’s three event spaces: Le Rocher up to 50 guests, Le Plongeoir up to 40, Le Vivier 60 seated or 100 for cocktails (closed until May 2027). (Table: Burger Breton, source leplongeoir.com)
Where is Le Plongeoir and how do you get there from the Port of Nice?
Le Plongeoir sits at 60 boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, on the seafront road that leads from the Port of Nice toward Mont Boron.
Port of Nice (Port Lympia) in December 2025, the starting point of boulevard Franck Pilatte, the seafront road to Le Plongeoir and Mont Boron (4032×3024, lazy). (Photo: Pierrette13, CC0 1.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port\_Lympia\_Nice.jpg))
The official site uses the 06300 postal code, while the tourist office lists 06000. Use 06300 for your GPS or taxi. For the port district and the rest of the city, see our guide to eating in Nice, from Vieux-Nice to the port.
Map of Le Plongeoir, 60 boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice, between Port Lympia and Mont Boron (iframe 800×450, lazy; local poster required). (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL)
Is Le Plongeoir worth booking?
Le Plongeoir is worth booking for its setting and its history, as long as you accept rock-top prices for seasonal Mediterranean food.
No other table in Nice has this story: a Belle Époque boat, an Art Deco diving board and a 2015 revival, all on the same rock. Reviewers give it 8.6/10, then grumble about the bill. My take: you pay for the view, and that is a fair deal at lunch. In 2019 the €29 formula was the cheapest way in. At dinner, without a published menu or a confirmed chef, I would want current prices in writing before committing.
Diving boards on the Le Plongeoir rock in Nice, April 2025, with the restaurant terrace above the Mediterranean (3024×4032, lazy). (Photo: Jon Rosenoer, CC BY 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Divers\_Nice.jpg))
FAQ: Le Plongeoir Nice
Who owns Le Plongeoir in Nice?
Marc Dussoullier owns Le Plongeoir through his company MASSENA QUATRIEME. He created the current restaurant in 2015.
What is the history of the Le Plongeoir rock?
A fishing boat called “L’Inflexible” served as a bar-restaurant on the rock at the end of the 19th century. After it was destroyed in 1941, René Livieri built an Art Deco diving platform there, which sources say was later demolished. The restaurant reopened in 2015.
Is Le Plongeoir open all year?
No. The 2026 season runs from 12 March to 15 November, daily from 12:00 to 21:30. The Le Vivier lounge bar is closed until May 2027.
How much does a meal at Le Plongeoir cost?
2026 prices are not published. In 2019 the lunch formula cost €29, the lunch menu €35 and à la carte about €70.
Do you need to book Le Plongeoir?
Book ahead to be safe: tables on the rock are limited and the season is short. Call +33 (0)4 93 26 53 02 or email contact@leplongeoir.com.
Does Le Plongeoir serve burgers?
No. No burger appears on any menu source checked in October 2026. The cuisine is Mediterranean, built around fish, seafood and risotto.
Is Michaël Fulci the chef at Le Plongeoir?
No. Michaël Fulci is the chef-owner of Les Terraillers in Biot, a one-Michelin-star restaurant. No source links him to Le Plongeoir.
Who is the chef at Le Plongeoir in 2026?
The restaurant has not confirmed it. Grégory Mélani is the last chef named in published sources, in 2019 and 2023.
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