Claire CHAPDELAINE

Chef de service : Le Littré Coming from a family of restaurateurs in Normandy, Chef Claire Chapdeleine carries on the legacy of her mother and aunt by reviving, alongside her husband Grégory Colombier, a well-known restaurant in Avranches.

Presentation

Le Littré, Avranches’ iconic restaurant, is a true institution that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. This building, originally owned by an aristocrat and converted into a hotel in 1830 (under the name Hôtel de France et de Londres), was taken over in 1977 by Marie-Agnès Nivard, who established the restaurant there. She didn’t hand it over until 2013 to Sébastien Godefroy, who renamed it Obione. “Although I didn’t attend hotel school and had pursued a different path, at age 23 I took over my mother’s restaurant, Les Bruyères in Gouvets, with my partner Grégory Colombier. It was an unusual spot, right next to an A84 highway rest stop—and, incredibly rare in France, you could actually walk there from the rest stop’s parking lot.”

Back in the dining room after twenty years in the kitchen

The couple ran this independent restaurant for 20 years before the opportunity arose to take over Obione, which was in bankruptcy proceedings. “Grégory and I live in Avranches, and I obviously had a strong emotional connection to this place where I spent so much time as a child. Our bid to take over the business was accepted, and we welcomed our first guests in 2023 to this revamped Littré.” The first 18 months were intense for this self-taught chef, who learned to cook on the job—first out of necessity, then for pleasure—in her mother’s former restaurant. “After two years, we were fortunate enough to hire a young couple, Mathieu and Amanda Blondel—he’s a cook, she’s a pastry chef—which allowed us to take things to the next level. Grégory and I were able to move into the dining room, and we saw a real improvement in our overall experience. We’re so happy to be breathing new life into this Littré, which the people of Avranches hold so dear.”