restaurant

Octave

Restaurant Octave (Guainville)

© Philippe Vaurès Santamaria

  • Date
  • share

Castle life really suits chef Romain Meder! After a stint at the five-star Hôtel Plaza Athénée under the reign of Alain Ducasse, he’s now the sole master (chef) at the Domaine de Primard, the former home of Catherine Deneuve that was taken over by serial renovators Frédéric Biousse and Guillaume Foucher (Domaine de Fontenille, Les Hautes Mers, Les Hortensias du Lac…). At the bistronomic restaurant of this glam hotel surrounded by rose bushes and deckchairs, in a dining room dotted with dried flowers and equipped with a gigantic rotisserie, the chef sent out all of the following the day we went for lunch: a flamboyant sausage duly cooked over the embers and paired with some luscious toum, which is a Lebanese version of aioli; an XL zucchini stuffed with its spiced pulp and roasted to perfection, arm in arm with a zucchini carpaccio (made with yellow zucchini this time around) and charred fig leaves; before a stylishly rustic dessert by Iris Fumey (Ducas-trained as well), which consisted of a bowl of plump cherries, fennel confit and a farm-fresh fromage blanc ice cream. Ave Octave, we salute you! // Thomas Jossin

FEELING THIRSTY? High-end labels and natural grand cru wines: a Chinon red produced by the Bretons (€12 a glass), a Chenin by Chidaine (€80 a bottle), unless you decide to splurge on a 2021 Cheval Blanc for the modest sum of… €1,680.
PRICE: Set menus €28-38 (weekday lunch), à la carte €56-74.

Save this spot in the Fooding app, available on iOS! Download it now in the app store.

The new Le Fooding France Guide is available!

Inside the latest edition, discover our top 400 restaurants, bars, wine cellars, shops and hotels from all over France that’ll be the talk of the town in 2024. Anything else? Our 16-strong list of award winners you’ll not find anywhere else, and nine articles which shine a light on the taste of the times!

2021 Le Fooding guide frontcover
I WANT IT!
About

Le Fooding is a print and digital guide to all the restaurants, chefs, bars, stylish hotels and B&Bs that make up the “taste of the times,” plus an annual awards list for new establishments across France, a series of gastronomic events, a tool that allow you to make reservations at some fantastic bistros, and an agency specialized in event planning, content production and consulting… And after conquering France, Belgium is Le Fooding guide’s latest playground!

Fooding® is a registered trademark.