Translated by Bethszabee Garner
A few steps from the Croisette and Rue d'Antibes, a discreet cul-de-sac is home to a restaurant that has become one of the landmarks of Cannes nightlife. It was on Rue Florian that Antoine and Ugo Lecorché, twin brothers from Lyon, opened their first establishment in 2015: La Môme. The restaurant quickly attracted a clientele of locals, conference attendees, and tourists looking for an atmosphere that was both elegant and relaxed. Open every evening, the restaurant became a meeting place where diners could enjoy a cozy yet festive atmosphere, true to the spirit of the Riviera.
Behind this success lies a patiently built career. Arriving in Cannes in 2004 for a two-month season, the two brothers settled there permanently, climbing the ranks of the restaurant industry—from waiters to managers of renowned establishments—before realizing their ambition to open their own restaurant. Since then, the La Môme Group has expanded: after the restaurant, bar, and beach of the same name, came Mido, a Japanese restaurant, and more recently Le Môka. Other openings will follow in Monaco, Paris, and soon London. This growth is deliberate but controlled, with a desire to remain a family-run business and a constant focus on the customer experience.
To mark La Môme's tenth anniversary, celebrated amid the excitement of the Cannes Film Festival, Antoine Lecorché looks back on the fundamentals of this entrepreneurial adventure with “3 questions to”:
Désirée de Lamarzelle: From your beginnings in Cannes to the opening of a restaurant at the Berkeley in London, what have been the major turning points in your career?
Antoine Lecorché: Rather than spectacular turns, I believe in following a straight line without wavering. From day one at La Môme, our obsession has been the same: to welcome each customer as if they were our first and last. That means service with surgical precision but without stiffness, almost intuitive listening, attention to the smallest detail—from the fold of the napkin to the lighting on the table. And, of course, uncompromising cuisine that respects the product and enhances it without disguising it. We hide this rigor and high standards behind a light, joyful, almost carefree atmosphere. But it's a carefully orchestrated carefreeness. That's where the real magic lies: in presenting a disarming simplicity when everything is actually based on meticulous mechanics.
Désirée de Lamarzelle: How do you manage to preserve the soul of La Môme and Mido when crossing borders, from the French Riviera to Paris and London?
A.L: It's in our DNA. We don't just copy and paste a restaurant from one place to another like you would duplicate a brand. Each establishment must breathe the spirit of La Môme: relaxed elegance, a taste for a well-organized party, that subtle blend of chic and human warmth. To achieve this, the human factor is crucial. We have one obsession: recruiting the right people, those who understand our vision and share our values. And above all, we support them. At La Môme, we train, we pass on our knowledge, and then we help them grow. It's often our number two or three who become the managers of new locations. They know the company and its history. This means that every opening is a human adventure, never just a growth operation.
Désirée de Lamarzelle: Looking ahead, what legacy do you want to build with the La Môme Group? And what projects are you excited about?
A.L: What drives us is never betraying the promise we made to our customers. No matter how successful we are, how big the group gets, or how many locations we add to our list, every person who walks through the door at La Môme must feel unique, listened to, and pampered. Our restaurants are places for living, reunions, confidences, and celebrations. It is this emotion that we want to convey and perpetuate.
As for the future, it will be written as we meet new people and fall in love with places that inspire us. We remain open to exciting opportunities. This summer, we will open La Môme Riviera in Roquebrune Cap Martin, an exceptional site with deckchairs and a restaurant, designed for lunches with your feet in the water and dinners watching the sunset. This project symbolizes our ambition: to continue to grow without ever losing the essence of what makes La Môme special.
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