Le Charlemagne

Rating: 14.5
Author: Gault&Millau

1 Route des Vergelesses, 21420 Pernand-Vergelesses, France

14.5/20
Chef's Restaurant

BOOK

15 PHOTOS

Chef: Rudy Villien
Cooking: French | Healthy cooking | Local | Modern | Signature cuisine
Services: Cooking lessons | Private Parking
Style: Romantic

Budget (€)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

95 to 165

Gault&Millau's review 2026

A truly immersive experience! Through the very large floor-to-ceiling windows of this elegantly comfortable, long, narrow dining room, you really feel as though you’re right in the heart of the vineyards. In fact, the very first rows of vines, literally within arm’s reach, are specially vinified for the restaurant. A worthy successor to Laurent Peugeot, Rudy Villien offers seasonal cuisine here that is never boring, skillfully infusing rigorously selected ingredients with Japanese-inspired touches. To start, crisp green asparagus pairs with delicate farmed trout from Crisenon, whose roe is also featured, as is yuzu (in gel and emulsion). The addition of a perfectly measured Japanese seasoning (furikake) not only adds a touch of global flair but also gives the dish a very interesting depth of flavor. The impeccable low-temperature-cooked Brittany pollock is adorned with a Japanese exoticism that suits it rather well (dengaku, umibudo). Artichokes in various textures provide the vegetable component. Yellow curry makes an appearance in the next dish, where the duck breast, cooked to a perfect pink, and the morels take center stage. The cooking juices are rich and subtle. An extra moment of indulgence comes with shredded duck topped with a light potato emulsion. A reinterpretation of strawberry charlotte ensures a winning finale. The sweet vanilla cream and the delicious, deep-red strawberries (in a salad, as a gel, and in an emulsion) are pleasantly paired with caramelized peanuts. Let’s not forget to mention the excellence of the appetizers and petits fours. The service is very attentive and friendly. Burgundy wine lovers will be delighted by a wine list that is, naturally, almost exclusively dedicated to them.