Hotel La Cheneviere
Le Botaniste, gourmet restaurant in Normandy
Le Botaniste is located within the castle and offers gourmet cuisine guided by nature and its garden. Open in the evening from Tuesday to Saturday, the restaurant team welcomes you in a sumptuous setting, with a room surrounded by bay windows, bathed in light and overlooking the castle park and its century-old trees.
Nature is also present in the decoration with floral fabrics, plant ceramics and botanical engravings on the walls.
Local products from the permaculture garden
The Chefs of the gourmet restaurant, Didier Robin Chef des cuisines and Hugo Genty Assistant Chef, serve an Au Fil des Saisons menu, with a starter, a main course and a dessert for €72 or two starters, a main course and a dessert for €89.
They work with noble products from the region such as cider beef, lobster, squab and even the famous Normandy scallops.
For more than 20 years, Didier Robin has maintained a close relationship with Normandy producers, whom he meets and gets to know during his outings to the Bayeux market and to their farms.
Vegetables and their seasonality also punctuate the cuisine of the gourmet restaurant. The market gardener of La Chenevière, Pierre Vandaële, cultivates a permaculture of more than two hectares on the castle land.
Every week he meets the Botanist Chefs and participates in dish tastings in order to provide suggestions for varieties of vegetables that are sometimes less well-known but which combine harmoniously in the restaurant's cuisine, such as Teggia beans with poached foie gras.
Leeks, squash, artichokes, beans, asparagus, tomatoes and peas: thanks to this medley of vegetables, the Chefs offer vegetarian and gourmet dishes throughout the season.
The impressive cheese cart comes from our ripening cheese producers: Nicolas Mauger from Le Bajocasse farm in Nonant and Xavier Godmet from La Boîte à Fromage in Orbois.
Simon Beauruelle, the Pastry Chef of the gourmet restaurant also works with fruits from the garden such as rhubarb and strawberries. He experiments by creating bold but remarkable combinations such as raspberry with black garlic or even cauliflower with lemon.
It also offers two cakes per month to take away for celebrations or small pleasures at home.
Before sitting down at the table at the gourmet restaurant, Thibault Gosselin our bartender offers you his creative and seasonal cocktail menu with herbs and honey from the garden. It also highlights vintage or “forgotten” alcohols and brings old recipes up to date in order to enjoy timeless cocktails. You will find old French alcohols there like Mandarine Napoléon, Gentiane or Chartreuse. Our bar has different lounges and a terrace to relax while admiring our gardens. The bar is also open for those who just want to have a drink.
A prestigious selection of wines and champagnes
Our restaurant manager and sommelier Olivier travels through all the wine regions of France in constant search of wines that will please both great amateurs and the less expert among us. Close to the terroirs and winegrowers, he has composed a wine list which covers more than 300 references and includes both some of the most prestigious appellations and estates in France, but also reflects his personal interest in natural and biodynamic wines. . All this while always paying particular attention to the suitability of its wines with the Chefs' cuisine.
He will advise you on your choice of wines by the bottle, but also offers tastings of wines served by the glass.
The Botanist has a private room and can exceptionally be open at lunchtime for group meals and events, such as weddings, birthdays, family meals, etc.
