Restaurant Pure & V — Restaurant in Nice

Pure & V is run by just two people: a sommelier-founder and a Scandinavian chef managing both the kitchen and the dining room. The concept sounds intimate—until the cracks start to show.

I requested to change my reservation to 18:00 or 19:00. The reply simply confirmed 18:30, with no explanation or engagement. Later—on the actual day of dinner—the automated confirmation email stated 19:00.

On the day of dinner, I emailed to clarify. Replies came quickly—but they were curt, cold, and defensive. The person responding identified herself as the one who manages all communication. There was no apology, just: “It’s 6:30. That’s what the system says.”

To give context, I’ve included screenshots of both my original message and the reply. All personal information has been removed. The intention is not to criticise individuals, but to present the communication exactly as it occurred. I maintained a polite and respectful tone throughout. The contrast in tone and attitude speaks for itself.

The nine-course tasting menu was Nordic in style—fermentation-forward, clean, and visually restrained. One course featured fermented sansho berries that were so sharply acidic they bordered on unpleasant. Portions were extremely small.

As a non-drinker, I ordered two alcohol-free cocktails—both were flat and forgettable. When I was asked if I’d like another, I simply asked whether there were any options besides the two I’d already tried. The answer was no—so I said water would be fine. But the sommelier insisted on going to the kitchen to have something made.

What came back was a more acidic version of the welcome drink, which had been tomato-based. I didn’t finish it. It was quietly returned.

I had remained respectful and fully engaged throughout the meal—never confrontational.

But from that moment, the tone of service shifted. The chef stopped checking in. Dishes were cleared wordlessly. Dessert cutlery was dropped all at once, without introduction.

The dessert courses repeated the drink ingredients: apricot, watermelon. Not a thematic echo—just reuse. I’ve seen ingredient reuse done brilliantly at other Michelin-level restaurants—where the intention is clearly communicated, and the reinterpretation is imaginative. Here, it felt more like repetition than purpose. Just reuse without meaning.

And yes, the undrinkable cocktail was still charged. I usually try to support restaurants by ordering alcohol-free pairings when I can—even if I don’t drink. So seeing it added to the bill, after it was returned untouched, was genuinely surprising.

When the person responsible for guiding the guest experience shows little curiosity or care, it’s no longer just a service issue—it’s a question of leadership.

Minimalism is fine. I see beauty in it. But when warmth, consistency, and respect are stripped away too, you’re left questioning the star more...

This is a difficult review to write as I am still incredulous and bewildered over the aggressive treatment we received at Pure & V. To make a convoluted story short, we decided to leave after the second course of a multi-course meal due to the restaurant's hygiene issues, but the owner insisted we pay for food we had not consumed. Her manner was abusive towards my companion and me (Asian-Americans who speak no French), while to all the other guests she was most sweet and obliging. We had already had some tension with the owner when she mimicked my accent and I asked her why that was necessary. However, she apologized after.

We had already expressed some concerns to two other members of the staff. When my companion approached the owner herself - calmly - to express our concerns, she turned belligerent before my companion had the chance to speak. And when my companion objected - again calmly - to being overcharged the owner immediately picked up the phone to call the police, even though my companion had her credit card in hand ready to be handed to the owner, so clearly we were not trying to run off without paying. When the police arrived, the owner presumably changed her story (we could not understand the exchange was in French) and told the officers that we refused to pay an amount that was more than double what she had originally demanded of us. Since it was her word against ours, and the police understood little English, we had no choice but to pay the exorbitant amount she claimed we owed. As we handed her a credit card, she hissed in an extremely spiteful tone, in English (which she knew the police would not understand), that the extra cost was our punishment for causing a scene in her restaurant. To be clear, we never raised our voices and we made sure to cause minimal disturbance to other diners.

The owner took advantage of our language barrier knowing we could not defend ourselves in French so she was free to misrepresent the facts to the police. By sharing our terrifying and bizarre experience, I hope to prevent such vicious behavior of the owner toward other...

We were excited to visit this restaurant but unfortunately it did not live up to our expectations. There was no explanation of the concept of the restaurant and the sommelier made some rather inappropriate jokes that we did not appreciate (I.e not accepting guest that arrives with 5 minutes delay).

During the day I received a message saying that our table was ready at 20, however our initial reservation was for 21. This was somewhat confusing to me. We asked via text message if we wouldn’t have time to finish the dishes if we arrived at 21h but the restaurant didn’t reply.

We ordered champagne as predrink and due to a “misunderstanding” we were never offered the wine pairings, which we all wanted. A shame. According to the staff this was a misunderstanding, however I must say that a misunderstanding on a restaurant this level is just not acceptable. Service is a large part of the experience and a responsibility of the restaurant.

Having visited many Michelin restaurant I feel like Pure et V is not as refined and sophisticated as previous experiences at similar establishments. We arrived all quite excited to hear more about the wine from supposedly one of the best sommeliers in France however the service was throughout the dinner very confusing and we had to ask the staff to repeat several times as we didn’t understand what they were saying/unclear communication. Even when one of us clarified in French, we still were left with an impression of not really knowing what the next dish would be/the choices to make in terms of the menu. Disappointing.

The dishes are ok, some of them very good and quite refined, some of them average. The best part of the menu were by far the dessert. Both were excellent and quite exciting.

I truly believe this restaurant has potential but when you pay 800 euros for a party of 4 you want to leave with a feeling of excitement and ideally also a memory of a special evening. Unfortunately, this was...