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McDonald's Cannes Lions

The best places to eat, greet and meet clients at Cannes – and we don't mean the Gutter Bar!

By Jane Austin |

June 9, 2014 | 8 min read

If you're heading out to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and have yet to figure out where to book your lunch/dinner or business meetings with clients, here is the best guide around for where to wine and dine. Jane Austin, founder of Persuasion Communications has been going to Cannes since the age of 18 and knows better than anyone the best places to be seen. So let her give you some guidance for where to go around town. What? No Gutter Bar?

The Carlton, 58 Boulevard de la Croisette

The closest thing to a vortex that Cannes has to offer – no matter where you go throughout the day, you’ll always end up on the Carlton Terrace. Some might complain about the hours spent queuing for drinks that cost more than the price of a vital organ and getting hemmed in next to people you’d cross a five-lane motorway to avoid, but if you can’t handle the Carlton Terrace at 3am then you should probably have stayed at home. I got trapped in the glass revolving door on the Terrace last year; as a warm non-rosé induced flush consumed my body, and the glass panes began to mist up with my sweat and anxiety, perhaps resignation, I prayed that I would not be saved and just left to expire into a pool of perspiration and not listen to another diatribe of ‘leaning in’, ‘narrative’, ‘native’ etc, but then, some digital wag tweeted that he was leaving his Apple Martini and coming to save me as he could see I was looking ‘confused’. But I digress. By day, when the pools of rosé and broken glass have been cleared up, it is beautiful and hardly changed since its glory days in the 1950s when Hitchcock’s ‘To Catch A Thief’ was filmed there. By night it’s a like a monied, boozed-up Wetherspoons knees up. Think Guardian Soulmates meets Cocoon meets Superdry. Nice.

The bar at the Grand Hotel, 45 Boulevard de la Croisette

I love this bar. When I was a journalist, we all stayed at the Grand because it was a cheap hotel that had never heard of a duvet. They had brown blankets with maps of Africa on them, which served a purpose. I guess. I went to Cannes on a recce for locations in February this year and I was deeply impressed by the bar. In particular by a) the waiter's ability not to look at me like I was a complete arse even though his words suggested otherwise (“Madame would truly like a cherry martini after the Irish Coffee and the Aperol Spritz? Fantastique”) and b) the 60s décor is pretty good, like being on the set of ‘Twin Peaks’. The octogenarian pianist is also worth attention. After the cherry martini I asked for some Arctic Monkeys. Instead I got “They asked me how I knew, my true love was true”.James Caan is an on/off client and has the penthouse, which is worth a nosey just for that reason.

The slushy van at the seafront

When the sweat is collecting in your crevices like mini oxbow lakes and the only look you’re managing to pull off on the Croisette is ‘sunstroke victim’, get down to the seafront and treat yourself to a slushy. When the MD doesn’t believe he’s been fucked over by his ‘great people’, buy him a slushy and sit him under a tree. You can always stick a vodka in it. I say him because, you know. There’s even a Red Bull flavour (in a particularly violent shade of blue) to revive those on the verge of slipping into a hangover-induced coma. My personal favourite is citron, but there is always the exotique (with a heart over the i) if you’re feeling cheeky. Ah, slushy bliss.

The Absinthe Bar, 25 Cours Masséna, 06600 Antibes

Those of an artistic bent will find kindred spirits down at the Absinthe Bar. A former haunt of Baudelaire, this intimate cellar bar dates back to the 1850s. For those who agonise over whether they will manage to make it to all the best and craziest parties at Cannes, I have a simple solution – let the proprietors of the Absinthe Bar educate you on the many varieties of absinthe in their collection and let the crazy come to you. Sadly this usually occurs with a Phil Collins track in the background. Nothing says you want that job like banging your head on a table top while punching the air like a mentalist to Sussudio. Then again nothing suggests suitability for an international role than the ability to quote Sting – another favourite at the bar. “I hope the Russians love their children too”. Me too Sting. Word. ​

Il Viaggio, 11 Rue d'Oran

If you’re in the mood for food as authentically Italian as you can ever hope get in a town in the South of France, go to Il Viaggio. Even the most gluttonous carbohydrate fans will be satisfied with the delicious homemade pastas, risotto and breads on offer. You can also rest assured that all of the ingredients are carefully sourced, as the Italian owner Matteo Rostagno takes his inspiration from the Slow Food movement. Clearly most UK ad people don’t give a fuck about this place: slow food, tasteful, elegant etc – so no one will ever find you.

Sushi Kan, 5 Rue Florian

Where would a gathering of the great and good from the global advertising industry be without some sashimi to nibble on? Sushi Kan, located just off the Croisette, is the best sushi restaurant in town and specialises in reinterpretations of classic Japanese recipes. Everything is made to order so you can sometimes be in for a bit of a wait, but it’s worth it. They even serve rosé. Yah! It’s not the Carlton, Majestic or Martinez, it's two minutes before the Majestic, down a side road, and near a cool shoe shop. Ergo, impossible to find even though we all have Google Maps.

Le Jardin, 15 Avenue Isola Bella

At Le Jardin you can dine under olive trees, soak up the bucolic atmosphere and forget all about the three-ringed circus that’s going on along the Croisette. Even the stuffiest of senior clients couldn’t fail to be moved by the beautiful surroundings at Le Jardin. Whether you’d want to hang out with them in such a romantic setting is another question.

Le Bar Au Vin, 10 Rue Marceau

The grand crus are all here and wonderfully paired up with the finest foie gras, cured meats and cheeses. Get up on the terrace with a few bottles and the mother of all cheese boards for a gloriously decadent afternoon. After all those client meetings and tedious seminars about sustainability, you’ve earned that bloody cheese.

Palm Beach Casino, Pointe Croisette, Place Franklin Roosevelt

So you can’t afford a big name speaker at Cannes? Put the entire expenses budget for the year on black at the roulette table at Palm Beach Casino and get Lady Gaga’s agent on the phone. There’s a lot of chat about ‘bravery’ in advertising these days, but until you’ve put your career on the line for a bet, you don’t know what you’re talking about. For the less brave, the casino also has a restaurant with a nice sea view. But food is so yesterday, right? Especially when you can have a sparkler in a gin fizz. Careful though, as who wants to be so pissed that they buy a break-dancing mechanical monkey with the ability to light fags, from a Moroccan gentleman on the way home? Hilarious at the time, but…

McDonald’s, 2 Rue Félix Faure

Hey young creatives. Want to get to an ECD when they are vulnerable and without the rationale and strength to tell you that your book is crap, your hair is shit and to get the night boat back to Bournemouth? Aces. Hang around McDonald’s around midnight as I have spent many happy nights with ECDs, ex-clients obvs, shoveling a Big Mac and fries into their catlike mouths after s/he has drunk his/her body weight in Rose d'Ott without carbing up in advance.This year's Cannes Lions Festival will run from 15-21 June.
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