Exotic trees are abundant along the southern French town of Menton's boulevard de Garavan, just a few meters from the Italian border. "Here, there's a microclimate within the microclimate," said Mauro Colagreco as he climbed the small hill leading from his restaurant, Mirazur, to his vegetable garden, Rosmarino, the closest of his five gardens. Even though this Riviera city already enjoys very mild weather, the southern exposure of this neighborhood, protected by the mountain slopes, raises its temperature by an extra 4 to 5°C. Its atmosphere is almost subtropical. A small scaffolding on the side of the road serves as the temporary entrance to the superb terraces planted with vegetables and trees. At the very top, a construction site outlines the shape of what will be an 11-room hotel overlooking the vegetation and a breathtaking view.

It took Colagreco 10 years to obtain a building permit for this one-hectare establishment, conditional on the complete restoration of the original ornamental gardens – something the chef has already been working on with his gardeners and ethnobotanists for nearly 15 years, with one difference: Their aesthetic and lush dimension has been restored, but they're also very much edible. Everything can be eaten, everything is delicious and everything grows thanks to this "microclimate within the microclimate" where seasons intersect. Rosmarino is one of Mirazur's vibrant, living pantries, where several thousand plant varieties are cultivated each year. "This is where it all begins," explained the chef. "The garden is guiding the kitchen, not the other way around."

On this late November Saturday, under a soft, warm sun, we randomly picked and tasted a few fruits and vegetables: mango, mandarins, papaya, five different types of mint, lemons of all kinds, tomatillos and physalis, bananas, squash, pomegranates, dragon fruit, kiwis, lemongrass and cosmos, persimmon, purslane and a surprising Malabar spinach.

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