Projo shots

3/1/23

The week in 3 parts

Phone calls

Gourmet conversations

Phone call from Gérard Garrigues (15/20, 3 toques), who tells us he's leaving Le Ménagier, in the pretty bastide town of Castelnau-de-Montmiral, for a new adventure, perhaps near Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. Le Ménagier has already found a buyer in Julien Bourdariès (Vigne en Foule, in Gaillac), which should reopen in April /// Phone call from Nicolas Thomas to inform us of his arrival at Château de Courban, replacing Takashi Kinoshita. Jeune Talent 2018, the former cellist turned chef had made a name for himself in the Toulouse suburbs (La Promenade, in Verfeil), where he achieved 3 toques. After a brief stint at La Flibuste on the Côte d'Azur, he is now ready to take on a new challenge in this vast residence north of Dijon. M. E.

Kick-off

Loiseau settles in Besançon

Building on its successes in Dijon and Beaune, Maison Loiseau is expanding its chic regional bistro concept throughout the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. The latest addition is in Besançon, near the Place de la Révolution, in the heart of a gourmet and historic city that is somewhat lacking in restaurants of this calibre. Opening planned for the first half of 2023. To be continued. M. E.

A stroke of brilliance

The essential is in Fougères

Haute Sève used to be the best restaurant in the sous-préfecture. With the arrival of Jean-Marie Baudic, who opened on January 20, it's already a revolution. And if the Grand de Demain 2004 (when he was Aux Pesked, in Saint-Brieuc) has a little less hair today, he still has just as many ideas. In allusion to his Rennes restaurant, Ciel de Rennes, he named the new house EssenCiel, placed his second Julien Rault in the kitchen, and it's already a success, attracting all those he's been delighting for almost twenty years. M. E.

The race for the title of Grand de Demain is over! Gault&Millau has just named Clément Guillemot, of the restaurant Choko Ona, Grand de Demain de l'Année 2025.

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