The historical past of the Hôtel de la Côte d’Or is, in some ways, the historical past of French delicacies.
For nearly a century, the restaurant within the inconspicuous Burgundian market city of Saulieu pioneered French gastronomy, serving as a watering gap for the wealthy, well-known and notorious, and as a middle of political intrigue. Marshal Philippe Pétain dined there throughout World Battle II as he fled from Vichy to Germany. Former President François Mitterrand typically visited.
On the peak of its success, within the Nineteen Nineties, below its chef Bernard Loiseau, the Côte d’Or commanded three stars within the illustrious Michelin Information, with Loiseau one in every of solely 25 cooks in France to win the foodie bible’s prime ranking: “Worthy of a particular journey.” Then got here a darker interval: Loiseau’s suicide, the stripping of one in every of its stars, the restaurant’s sale by his widow, the almost deadly blow dealt by the coronavirus.
Three many years in the past, I wrote a e book known as “Burgundy Stars: A 12 months within the Lifetime of a Nice French Restaurant” about Loiseau’s rise and I later wrote {a magazine} article about his suicide and its aftermath. And so after I heard a couple of new chapter within the restaurant’s historical past, I used to be keen to go to and see what was in retailer.
At a second wherein the far proper is in ascendance in France, with the anti-immigrant Nationwide Rally the nation’s single-largest political get together, a brand new chef has taken over the Côte d’Or’s famed kitchen — 40-year-old Louis-Philippe Vigilant. He’s a local of the Caribbean island of Martinique and he’s Black. What I questioned was what do the individuals of this predominantly white bastion of the rising proper wing make of him?
As chef within the Nineteen Nineties, Loiseau had embodied a selected kind of Frenchness, straddling the trendy and the normal. He labored with native artisans: Colette, the goat cheesemaker; Daniel, the honey man; Jacques, the jam genius; and Jean-François, the snail producer. On the similar time, he up to date French haute delicacies, lowering cream and butter in his recipes for an more and more city inhabitants. Loiseau displayed showbiz promotion and international ambition, making frequent appearances on TV and opening bistros in Paris and even a restaurant in Japan. He produced frozen meals for supermarkets. And he took his firm public on the Paris inventory trade.
However a darkish cloud hovered above this stunning mix of conventional and trendy: Loiseau suffered from manic despair. France thought of the illness shameful, to be hidden, and Loiseau did not confront his self-destructive demons. When Spanish and Danish cooks reinvented advantageous eating with molecular delicacies and festive foraging, Loiseau feared being toppled from the top. In 2003, he dedicated suicide.
After his loss of life, his widow, Dominique, took over. Haute delicacies just isn’t pleasant to girls and one in every of my e book’s secondary storylines describes Dominique’s battle to slot in. In a just-published memoir, “A Lady’s Revenge,” she recounts how she felt “no selection besides to proceed.” Her husband’s legacy counted on it. Saulieu wanted it — the restaurant is the city’s largest employer, with a payroll of 80. Though the Côte d’Or stayed in enterprise, it struggled. As enterprise stagnated and its stars began to fade away, Dominique bought off the worthwhile Parisian branches and retrenched in Burgundy. The bistro in Japan had been destroyed by an earthquake.
Alongside its star attraction. Saulieu slumped. The city’s inhabitants fell from 3,000 on the flip of the century to about 2,300, with nearly a 3rd over 65. Three many years in the past, town counted 5 medical doctors, 4 dentists and three architects. At this time, it counts three medical doctors, one dentist and one architect. Three many years in the past, 12 eating places crowded the primary Nationale 6road, and crucially for any French city, 5 bakeries. At this time, solely six eating places and three bakeries stay in enterprise. “We’re an growing old, dying city,” stated Hubert Couilloud, the retired maître d’hôtel and Bernard’s longtime confidant.
Anger fills the air. Native farmers protesting excessive costs, heavy regulation and overseas competitors have turned indicators the wrong way up, unscrewing, flipping, then screwing them again on, remodeling Saulieu into ueiluaS. Throughout final yr’s election, a protest vote turned to the extremes, allowed the far proper to win the primary spherical of voting. Like elsewhere in France, a last-minute shock vote within the ultimate spherical allowed the average proper to hold onto energy.
Till Vigilant arrived on this rural backwater, the kitchen workers included Japanese, British and even American members, however nearly no dark-skinned faces. But the brand new chef’s rise to preeminence within the city’s largest enterprise has been clean. “In Martinique, we now have no nice gastronomy,” Vigilant stated in a quiet but decided voice, standing like a normal in entrance of his white-toqued kitchen brigade.“If you wish to be a chef, it’s right here.”
With its mum or dad below a brand new CEO — Loiseau’s daughter, Bérangère — the Côte d’Or is bold as soon as once more. A Parisian enterprise faculty graduate, Bérangère has opened a brand new “Loiseau du Temps” within the regional metropolis Besançon, the primary of 4 deliberate new regional bistros. A brand new Loiseau bistro in Tokyo is flourishing.
In Saulieu, Bérangère purchased a Seventeenth-century edifice throughout the road from the headquarters’ gastronomic temple and turned it right into a keenly priced, snug conventional hostelry and restaurant, an informal different to its advantageous eating mum or dad institution. She took the flagship Côte d’Or upscale, constructing a surprising spa and spiffing up its spacious rooms. “We wish to make this a luxurious resort for individuals to remain a number of days,” Bérangère stated. In March 2024, the corporate reported gross sales of €8.78 million and eked out a €134,000 revenue, in comparison with a €823,000 loss the earlier yr.
The important thing to the long run is Vigilant. Decided to develop into a chef, he left Martinique at 17 to attend resort faculty — none existed on the island. “I noticed a face from the Caribbean trudging up the road — it was a shock,” recollects Jean Berteau, the retired former proprietor of La Borne Impériale, one other Saulieu restaurant. “We quickly grew to become mates as a result of I cherished the islands and vacationed there throughout winters.”
On the Côte d’Or, Vigilant met his future spouse, pastry chef Lucile Darosey. They’ve two youngsters and have purchased a home on the town. “I find it irresistible right here — it’s an excellent place to boost a household,” he stated.
The restaurant’s new menu consists of Loiseau classics, together with the famed sautéed frog’s legs, served with a puree of garlic and parsley. He has added his personal touches, together with foie gras bathed in black cardamom, sweetbreads soaked in chestnuts and turbot grilled in citrus combawa leaves. The parts are sturdy, beneficiant and filling. Darosey’s dessert, an ethereal rhubarb tart, is topflight. General, the strategies and tastes are conventional, not revolutionary or avant-garde.
After I requested round whether or not his race had ever been a problem within the conservative city, I used to be answered by laughing denials. Regardless of the nation’s lurch to the far proper, Saulieu accepts and admires his skills. Not race, however economics and the way the nation’s damaged politics imperil enterprise confidence was what was on individuals’s minds.
An election final yr produced a cut up parliament, dominated by the far left and much proper. A minority centrist authorities did not move a funds to convey the nation’s spiraling debt below management. This restoration stays fragile — like France’s financial fortunes. After a number of years of average development, the economic system is predicted to stagnate this yr.
On the Côte d’Or, reservations earlier than a latest vacation have been down. The lunchtime eating room remained nearly empty. “The clock is ticking,” says Bérangère. “Individuals fear, they don’t know what’s coming subsequent.”