Olivier ROELLINGER

In Cancale, Olivier Roellinger has left his mark on Breton cuisine through his restaurants, recipes, and spices. He continues to share his love of flavors through his books and creations.

Presentation

The son of a doctor, Olivier Roellinger studied chemistry to please his mother. However, in 1976, his life was turned upside down when he was attacked with an iron bar and left for dead. He was 21 years old. After weeks in a coma and two years of recovery marked by multiple surgeries, he abandoned his ambitions to become an engineer to devote himself to cooking and earn a CAP, finding a new lease on life.

La Maison du Voyageur

In 1982, Olivier and his wife Jane transformed their family home in Cancale into a restaurant, Le Bricourt. The small family team relied on the support of friends to serve their guests. In just six months, the restaurant earned two toques and a 15/20 rating from Gault&Millau. The rating continued to climb, reaching as high as 19.5/20 in 1994.

In the kitchen, Olivier Roellinger created a blend of fourteen spices inspired by the cargoes of 18th-century ships from Saint-Malo. This blend would become the hallmark of his legendary recipe, “Saint-Pierre retour des Indes.” This interest in spices led him to open his “Épices Roellinger ” shop and warehouse in Cancale in 1998.

Château Richeux

In 1999, the chef and his wife opened Château Richeux, a large 1920s villa overlooking the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. They created eleven guest rooms, two suites, and a restaurant, Le Coquillage. The chef devoted himself to the property full-time starting in November 2008, when he closed his main restaurant for health reasons. La Maison du Voyageur now houses the experimental kitchen and the Cancale retail warehouse.

His son, Hugo Roellinger, took over the reins in 2014 and was named Chef of the Year by Gault&Millau in 2022.