Geoelia: Camille Saint-M'leux casts off from the 16th arrondissement

One year after her acclaimed departure from Villa9Trois in Montreuil, Camille Saint-M'leux is turning a long-held dream into reality. Geoelia (a contraction of the first names of her grandparents, Georges and Éliane, and the name of their sailboat) is already establishing itself as one of this year's most eagerly awaited gastronomic events.

"It's a very personal restaurant, everything is thought out from A to Z. I've worked with a lot of craftsmen to make every corner of this place," confides the chef. Housed in a former Asian restaurant that has been meticulously transformed, the new address is captivating from the moment you enter: a 4-metre-high ceiling, a few steps to climb, and an atmosphere that is both raw and sophisticated.

A strong aesthetic bias, a tribute to the Parisian institution

Geoelia's décor refuses to be pastiche. It evokes the architecture of the great Parisian houses while asserting a resolute modernity. Structural concrete, generously-sized round tables, curtains and tablecloths with a studied fall: each element conveys a vision of comfort and precision.

"With the graphic designer and the architect, we thought about what a Parisian institution means today, without falling into an old caricature. I wanted to restore a certain softness, a form of classicism, without denying our times," explains Camille Saint-M'leux.

Geoelia offers a 24-seat main dining room and, in parallel, a 10-seat private dining room. The latter serves as a table d'hôtes, open to the kitchen - or isolated, depending on the mood - for a privileged behind-the-scenes look at the culinary gesture.

An iodized, instinctive and demanding cuisine

"Cooking will always be part of the Villa9Trois dynamic, but in a more logical way, because the place will respond to it", explains the chef. at Geoelia, seafood takes center stage, with an in-depth focus on proteins and umami. The common thread? Iodine and smokiness.

Among the flagship dishes that marked his time at La VIlla9Trois are rice with caviar, whelk served in its own swimming sauce, and a "revisited and pared-down" beef and squid ink dish that will remind loyal diners of his stylistic imprint. Each dish is "tothe point", stripped of all superfluous elements, in the service of a clear, direct, legible emotion.

A close-knit team, between exacting standards and elegance of gesture

Geoelia is more than just a chef. It's also a loyal and rigorous team. Camille Saint-M'leux's kitchen brigade has followed him in this adventure, including his sous-chef and a waitress from Villa9Trois, joined by an exceptional floor manager: Romain Pernot, who has worked at the Plaza Athénée and Crillon, and was floor manager at the restaurant Contraste for five years.

"I want to put the dining room back in the center of the story. We've created a central island that will punctuate the service, where Romain and his teams will be able to make their moves, without imposing them on the customer." No open kitchen here: room service is back in its rightful place, in a controlled choreography.

at the age of 29 (soon to be 30), with a rare maturity and an assertive vision, Camille Saint-M'leux is poised to make Geoelia part of the Parisian gastronomic landscape. An address conceived as a journey, where family memory and modern gestures form a harmonious whole. See you on June 16, 2025 to cast off.