Menton is famous for its lemons – and its patron saint of sorts: Mauro Colagreco, the star chef behind Mirazur. Since 2019, it’s also been home to Mitron, the embodiment of his long-held bakery dream. To bring it to life, the Argentine chef traveled to Cucugnan in the Aude to meet Roland Feuillas, who supplies a remarkable range of heritage wheat varieties (barbu du Roussillon, méteil, einkorn, khorasan, emmer, pétanielle noire de Nice), which are stone-milled locally in Menton. And it’s only the best for these flours, for the naturally-leavened sourdough starter is, of course, homemade too. Put it all together and what have you got? Beautiful loaves, baguettes and tarts that are easy to digest (thanks to their low gluten content) and keep incredibly well (€10.50 to €15 per kilo). Elsewhere on the shelves, beneath a portrait of the chef with his flour-dusted hands, sit impeccable pastries and cakes: dazzling lemon tarts, cinnamon rolls, Menton fougasse, pains au chocolat (if you manage to snag one, consider it a small miracle!), medialunas (the Argentinian version of the croissant), Japanese sugar brioche and the show-stealing panettone (don’t miss the Menton lemon version). The savory offering is cut from the same cloth: outstanding focaccia, quiche and pichade (Menton’s tomato-based cousin of Nice’s pissaladière), almost all topped with fruit and vegetables from the chef’s own gardens. · Alban Mont

THE HIDDEN GEM: The precious citrus lingot, fresh and fluffy, soaked in orange and lemon syrup, gluten-free and lactose-free (€3.50 per slice). What more could you ask for?