At the Relais de Chambord, Joseph Viola brings the classics back to life

In Chambord, the kitchens of the Relais de Chambord are getting a new lease on life thanks to the guidance of Joseph Viola, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, who is determined to make the great classics shine without nostalgia.

Tiana Salles Published on 9/15/25 at 12:27 PM

Since February, the chef from Lyon has been in charge of the restaurant's kitchens, with a simple credo: bourgeois yet accessible cuisine, using local produce. Facing the château and its monumental skyline, he and his teams have devised a menu that reflects " true French cuisine, traditional but not dusty. "Parisian-style salmon, game dishes, slow-cooked dishes... all signatures of a centuries-old history, revisited with respect for art and style.

Special attention to sauces

What makes the difference? Sauces. " Beautiful French cuisine is all about sauces. It's the most complicated thing for me ," insists the chef. Juices, vinaigrettes, fonds: behind their apparent simplicity, they give relief and depth to dishes. But the times call for more lightness: " We don't do many liaisons, we work more with reductions. With this method, we get much more flavour. So we keep our preparations very long, but with more freshness. We also always offer vegetarian dishes," he explains.

Since March, chef Marion Carraud - trained by Joseph Viola at his Croix-Rousse establishment - has taken over the reins of the brigade and is implementing this transmission. It's an approach that has remained true to the MOF's guiding principle since 2004: to give of one's knowledge, time and rigor. " When you give, they give back to you ", Joseph Viola likes to remind us.

In this exceptional setting, the Relais de Chambord is reinventing itself as a living French home, as much for visitors to the estate as for locals in search of fine dining. An ambitious project that is beginning to bear fruit, after five months of installation and a change of direction, to give the place a cuisine worthy of its setting.