I will say right from the outset that the dinners I threw at the Hôtel du Cap over the years—were evenings of such pleasure and exuberance and glamour. I have developed a fondness for the hotel to such a degree that it feels like a second home. There are grander hotels than the Hôtel du Cap. But there is no hotel with such subtleties of setting, purpose, and service. It stands by itself on the cliffs of Cap d’Antibes. The age of the hotel is a marvel in itself. This sort of continuity allows for long-term planning and execution. There are 500 employees for 118 rooms. One time, a diner had requested a tarte tropézienne. As you can guess from the name, it was concocted in Saint-Tropez, 60 miles to the west of Antibes. And it is not on the Hôtel du Cap menu. The diner was adamant: he wanted a tarte tropézienne! The concierge Eric Grac’s solution? He chartered a helicopter and sent a staff member to Saint-Tropez. He had a tropézienne on the customer’s table by the time coffee was served. The tarte was five euros. The helicopter was 2,000 euros. —Graydon Carter