Château Cordeillan-Bages Buys Well-Known Bordeaux Restaurant
Le Chapon Fin, which held one Michelin star before it was sold, is now run by two-star chef Thierry Marx.
Le Chapon Fin -- the Bordeaux restaurant that, at its height, reportedly lured celebrity and royal diners such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Sarah Bernhardt and Edward VII -- is now under the new ownership of châteaus Lynch-Bages and Cordeillan-Bages.
With one Michelin star at the time of its sale, Le Chapon Fin was one of the top restaurants in the city of Bordeaux proper. Founded in 1825, it was among the first group of restaurants to be awarded three Michelin stars in 1933, under the guidance of chef Joseph Sicard. It closed in 1960, but chef Francis Garcia resurrected it in 1987 under its original name. The extravagant dining room, with plaster rocks jutting from the walls, was a fever dream of Art Nouveau curves and naturalistic shapes.
Garcia and his wife, Géraldine, sold Le Chapon Fin to the two châteaus on Aug. 1, in order to devote their time to personal projects. The restaurant, which reopened on Sept. 4 and is currently being redecorated, is now managed by Cordeillan-Bages. The Pauillac estate operates a Relais & Châteaux hotel and a Michelin two-star restaurant, which holds Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence for its wine list.
"We are convinced that wine and food, which must go together, are two important aspects of the art of living," said Jean-Michel Cazes, proprietor of Lynch-Bages and Cordeillan-Bages. "We are happy to help illustrate this belief with Cordeillan-Bages, and now Chapon Fin. We also think it is in our interest to be closer to the Bordeaux clientele. We hope this will attract people to the Médoc, and will be another reason to visit Cordeillan, and vice versa."
Chef Thierry Marx, whose cuisine earned two Michelin stars for Cordeillan-Bages, now also oversees Le Chapon Fin, spending two days a week at the restaurant. He has hired chef Franck Feriguti, a former chef at the high-end Hotel Negresco in Nice, to handle day-to-day work at the restaurant. The two will also continue the cooking school formerly run by Garcia.
"My goal for Le Chapon Fin is to create a cuisine of French tradition with a twist of the fantastic," said Marx. "My vision for this restaurant is that it must be a timeless place, where the traditions of French cuisine are followed, while also looking to the future."
Marx is offering a frequently changing menu of seasonal dishes, such as foie gras on a bed of candied peaches with a drizzle of reduced Port, or lobster served with sweet chestnuts and wild mushrooms. "I love the creative aspect and the flavors of fusion cooking," said Marx.
At lunch, Le Chapon Fin offers a three-course prix fixe menu for 160 francs ($22) at lunch, in addition to the à la carte menu. The dinner menu is all à la carte.
Le Chapon Fin
Rue Montesquieu, 5
33000 Bordeaux
France
Tel: (011) 33-556-79-10-10
Fax: (011) 33-556-79-09-10
Open: Lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Saturday
Cost: Expensive
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