Bruno CROUZAT-REYNES

Sommelier : 1 restaurant Before becoming a talented sommelier, Bruno Crouzat-Reynes was... a tennis instructor! So he prefers to bring people together around a good bottle... and a good word.

Presentation

"Every day, I open my theater," meaning the doors of Bruno, the wine bar where this colorful man plays himself. Bruno Crouzat-Reynes, the owner of this renowned Dijon bistro, entertains customers as much as he entertains them, thanks to his verve and his carefully chosen bottles.

After twenty years as a tennis instructor, he decided to acquire the club in Norges-la-Ville (Côte-d'Or) in 1990. " I bought a tennis court with a buvette, but when I sold it, it was a restaurant opposite a tennis court", as Bruno Crouzat-Reynes has always had a penchant for good food. This bon vivant sportsman had already made the decisive encounter with Philippe Dépée, chef of the Auberge des Templiers in Boismorand (Loiret) in 1982. Then, in the 1990s, he met Jean-Claude Pion, a wine sales agent. "They gave me my foot in the door and opened the doors to a world that was unknown to me at the time, but which I was passionate about."

In 1997, he took the plunge. He sold his tennis club and, a year later, opened Le P'tit Blanc in Tours. "I wanted to create a convivial place where people could gather around a good bottle of wine, with a charcuterie or cheese board. A bit like the Taverne Henri IV, nestled on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris, which I discovered at the age of 21." His business took off, and the success reached the ears of columnist and food critic Jean-Luc Petitrenaud. "Together, we did some very lively shows on radio and television."

A few years later, Bruno Crouzat-Reynes returned to Dijon for a very simple reason: "The city is central, close enough to my points of interest - Alsace, the Jura, the Loire valley, Savoie, the Rhone valley...".e du Rhône..." In 2006, the sommelier, now recognized by his peers, opened Bruno, a no-frills establishment in his own image. "I attach as much importance to the wines as to the products that accompany them. I make my own trips to suppliers as far afield as Italy. I even offer a few tartines, made according to the seasons and the weather."

As the years go by, Bruno Crouzat-Reynes still distills his good humor with the same zeal as in the early days, and is not above teasing his customers. His motto hangs on the wall: "Les cons, ça ose tout. That's how you recognize them", a famous line from Les Tontons flingueurs. Because at Bruno's, the sharp repartee is accompanied by the sound of the bottles being uncorked by the owner! Gault&Millau awarded him the Sommelier Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 2023 trophy.

B. G.