Michelin star restaurants and their Vendean Celebrity chefs
The Vendee’s Michelin star restaurants are set in some of the most outstanding locations. There, celebrity chefs put the spotlight on revisited traditional dishes and local produce. Flavours that will tantalize the taste buds.
At the 2023 Michelin star ceremony, three new chefs from Vendée were awarded the famous Michelin star: Nathan Cretney, Boris Harispe and Simon Bessonnet. The big event of the ceremony concerns Chef Alexandre Couillon who was awarded a 3rd Michelin star. He is the only chef to have received a 3rd Michelin star at the prestigious national ceremony in 2023!
SIMON BESSONNET, CHEF OF THE RESTAURANT LA MAISON DESAMY, 1 MICHELIN STAR
Located in Mareuil-sur-Lay, on the banks of the Lay river, discover the starred restaurant of chef Simon Bessonnet! La Maison Desamy offers quality and refined cuisine in an elegant atmosphere with an exceptional view of the cellar or relaxed on the terrace. The chef will receive his first star on 6 March 2023!
NATHAN CRETNEY, CHEF OF LES REFLETS RESTAURANT, 1 MICHELIN STAR
Welsh chef Nathan Cretney will receive his first Michelin star on 6 March 2023! His daring and surprising cuisine was the subject of a report on our English website. Accompanied by his partner Solen, they welcome you to their restaurant Les Reflets in La Roche sur Yon.
BORIS HARISPE, CHEF OF THE RESTAURANT L'ABISSIOU, 1 MICHELIN STAR
Boris Harispe presents a delicate, refined cuisine, made from local products, which varies according to the seasons and his meetings with producers. On 6 March 2023, it was the consecration. The restaurant located in Les Sables d'Olonne received its first Michelin star!
A 3 Michelin-stars restaurant: "La Marine" and its chef Alexandre Couillon
In Noirmoutier, the "La Marine" is a 3 Michelin-star restaurant. Its chef Alexandre Couillon has joined the gastronomic elite in early 2013 when the restaurant won its second star from the Guide Michelin®. Recognition is well-deserved! And, as good news always comes in threes, Gault et Millau awarded Alexandre Couillon with five toques. In January 2019, La Marine joined the 180 Best Tables in the World.
In a contemporary black and white décor, the restaurant faces the fishing port of L'Herbaudière. Here, the chef surprises diners with his creative and meticulously prepared dishes, that never betray the true nature of the ingredients... Never a detail escapes his wife Céline who oversees the perfect completion of each dish right to the dining room.
On 6 March 2023, Alexandre Couillon receives his 3rd Michelin star! The chef from Vendée is the only chef to be awarded 3 stars at the 2023 ceremony!
Adjoining "La Marine", "La Table d'Elise" is Alexandre Couillon’s second restaurant. With simple décor featuring wooden tables, red-painted beams and nautical objects on the walls, the chef offers "bistrot cuisine" based on a careful selection of local quality produce of the season.
Jean-Marc Pérochon’s 1 Michelin star restaurant with a sea view
On the wild coast of Brétignolles sur Mer, the restaurant Jean-Marc Pérochon was awarded its first star by Guide Rouge Michelin® in 2014. Talented chef, Jean-Marc Pérochon hails from these parts and is known as a committed ambassador of the region. The chef's menu includes oysters from the oyster farm in nearby La Sauzaie, local shrimps, 100 day-old Challans poultry, line bass fresh from Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, and a hazelnut crumble with Kamok (a Vendée coffee liqueur). Piano player, Jean-Marc Pérochon is a man who has travelled around from Germany to the Caribbean, from Provence to the USA. He discovered flavours in the islands and learnt about combinations which always hit the spot: "I memorised scents and got a taste for the exotic with flavours like ginger, vanilla and mango."
1 Michelin Star Chef: Nicolas Coutand and his restaurant "Les Genêts"
Passionate about cooking from a very young age, Nicolas Coutand is now at the head of a 1 Michelin Star restaurant in Brem sur Mer. In 2009, he was appointed head chef of Les Remparts, a restaurant in Mirepoix. After several successful postings, Amélie and Nicolas Coutand decided to return to their origins and invite others to experience their gourmet restaurant. “Les Genêts" 1 Michelin Star restaurant has set up home in a former town house set in landscaped grounds. Nicolas favours fresh local products and seafood that he loves to craft and enhance. The chef offers a "bistro cuisine" style at lunch and a "fine dining" style for evening meals. The chef was named a "young talent" by the Gault & Millau guide in late 2014 and was awarded two couvertes in the 2015 Michelin Guide.
Recognition for Xavier Giraudet, awarded 1 Michelin Star Chef
Xavier Giraudet served his apprenticeship and it could almost be said, learned his trade, in Paris’ best restaurants, at the top of French gastronomy. From these years alongside Christian Le Squer, Pierre Gagnaire and Bernard Pineau he has not only gained valuable expertise, but learned to think about the feelings that his dishes should provide. The cuisine developed by Xavier Giraudet is designed to be precise, refined and tasty. It is therefore inspired by the great classics that he reinvents through the seasons and his own inspirations. Recognition arrived in February 2017 with a 1st Michelin star for his restaurant “La Robe“.
Valentin Morice awarded 1 Michelin star for his restaurant « La Table du Boisniard »
Chef Valentin Morice was awarded his first star in the Michelin Guide of 2020, for the “La Table du Boisniard” restaurant in Chanverrie. This young 26-year-old chef is known for his creative and refined cuisine which gives pride of place to local and seasonal products (Breton Langoustine in celery ravioli, lightly smoked quail eggs, yellow place or Saint Pierre...) and organic wines.
Benjamin Patissier, La Chabotterie 1 Michelin star restaurant chef
On the 22nd March 2022, Benjamin Patissier was awarded his first Michelin star. What an event! His restaurant “La Chabotterie” is located in St Sulpice le Verdon, near the Logis de la Chabotterie. In this emblematic site marked by the Vendee’s history, Chef Benjamin Patissier welcomes you to savour his exceptional cuisine. Nominated as “Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” or MOF (a unique and prestigious title awarded by different professions in a contest between professionals) in 2015, Benjamin Patissier and his wife Audrey are keen to invite you into their culinary world.