L’Espérance
Restaurant of a Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux and hotel in the country
Throughout history Vézelay has charmed artists, poets and kings. It was from this medieval castle, now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that the knights embarked on the second and third crusades... At L’Espérance, a former café and grocery store in the middle of the vineyards, Marc Meneau is leading another crusade: a taste mission. This self-taught chef discovered the art of cooking in books and then went on to develop his own sense of inventiveness. His oysters in a salty aspic, his shellfish and caviar tureen and his “Marie-Antoinette-Sofia Coppola” strawberry dessert all testify to this. The Chef’s other battle is to defend traditional winemaking techniques and to protect the local vines from the phylloxera pest that ravaged them in the past. ...Read more
France, Saint-Père-sous-Vézelay

La Côte Saint Jacques & Spa
Restaurant of a Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux and hotel on a river
Pleasant rooms with large terraces and a gourmet restaurant right on the banks of the River Yonne, an array of available activities, a charming and innovative spa, an indoor swimming pool, a special programme for children… The Côte Saint-Jacques is a generous and captivating destination, just like its owner, Jean-Michel Lorain, the enthusiastic and exuberant chef who will welcome you like a friend and will perhaps let slip, while chatting to you, the secrets of his recipes. His genesis of a dish is in itself worth the trip… ...Read more
France, Joigny