The announcement in November of the closure of Stars’n’Bars sent a ripple of shock through Monaco, but out of the ashes will rise a phoenix fitting to the times, Didier Rubiolo has disclosed.

In a tribute to Kate Powers, his partner in the popular venue from its opening in 1993 until her untimely passing in 2021, he said: “We enjoyed incredible years here.”

In an interview with French-language daily Monaco Matin, Didier said: “Today we can no longer hide, we know the problems that affect our planet. We must act to change our behavior. It is through the actions of each that we can change.”

Stars’n’Bars has been a leader in Monaco over the last 12 years or more in implementing more environmentally-friendly policies, including on its menu. The venue has substituted bio for industrial ingredients and banished plastics where it could.

‘Stars’ has also been a leader in hosting and promoting recycling, as typified by its anti-cigarette butts campaigns, and always with an emphasis on educating a wider public, especially children.

After two months of closure in February and March, the venue will reopen in a new format and always with an environmental message at its core.

It will be a place where people meet other, but which is not meant for an elite, Didier said.

The ground floor and terrace will continue as a restaurant, while on the mezzanine floor individual spaces all be available for fitness coaches and others.

But it is the food that will be testament to how the world is already changing: “We are lucky in our region to have a wide variety of plants, good producers who cultivate or raise animals in a reasonable way, local beers. It is to these suppliers that we will turn, removing everything that comes from industrial sources.

“Going to find products on the other side of the world no longer makes sense. Our desire is to have fun, while keeping a fair price. Thirty years ago, we were a driving force in Monaco. I hope to continue to be, but in a different way.”

Photos, top, the Star Deck will become a private club, centre, Didier and Kate in 1993, bottom, Kate and Didier promote greener solutions