Restaurant Le Clos Saint Pierre
The Story of its creation
Originally the building where the restaurant le Clos Saint Pierre is found was the village bar run by Françoise POUSSY – GARCINI and Emile, her husband. A classic example of a village café, table football, pinball machines and a billiards table, a friendly place filled with pétanque players, farmers and the youth of the village, all ‘Rourétans’ in spirit.
In 2000 Catherine and Daniel ETTLINGER decided to by the bar to open their own restaurant. The odds were not good but they always believed in this village. The square, the town hall, the church, its authenticity. It was here they wanted to settle and share their cuisine.
However before becoming this cosy Provençal stone building nestled in the heart of the village, they had to do some interior work. Firstly the main dining room and the terrace were restored. Then over the next four years they totally refitted the kitchens and the store rooms.
The evolution of the restaurant
In the beginning, Catherine and Daniel ETTLINGER worked with only one other chef, Stéphane LUCAS. Today he has two restaurants, L’école des filles at Bar sur loup and Au vieux Four in Gourdon. Eventually, little by little, it was possible to grow and arrive at today’s team who are united and faithful to the friendly image of this establishment. Consequently Stéphane GUERIN, the Maître d’hôtel, and Daiju FURUTA, the right hand man of Daniel in the kitchens, have been the backbone of the group since 10 years.
The reward of all this hard work came in 2003 when the restaurant Le Clos Saint Pierre received its first Michelin Star.
Today, ever faithful to its self, the restaurant offers a unique menu which changes daily according to the local market produce. The dishes are created mainly from regional produce supplied by local farmers who are passionate about their work.
Today’s menus
The restaurant proposes:
For the curious, the “Lunchtime menu”
40 euros (except Sunday lunchtime) including starter, main and dessert.
For food lovers, the “Market menu”
57 euros including starter, main, cheese course and dessert.
69 euros including cold starter, hot starter, main, cheese course and dessert.
In season: “Special Discovery menu”
Black Truffles starting at 85 euros
White Alba Truffles starting at 95 euros
Lobster starting at 85 euros
A great opportunity appeared one day in 2008; offer a few bedrooms not far from the restaurant Le Clos Saint Pierre. And so it was at that table during an animated discussion that the project of the Hôtel du Clos became a reality.
Le Bistro du Clos
The origin of the project
Situated in the southern wing of the Maison du Terroir in Le Rouret, the Bistro du Clos has a strong link with its story.
La Maison du Terroir, a community project between the town of the Rouret, its Mayor Gérald Lombardo, and the CASA (Communauté d’Agglomeration de Sophia Antipolis) , was created to reply to the needs of the farmer’s co-operative ‘Marché de nos Collines’ who wanted to have a space to sell produce directly from the farmers to the consumers.
From the desire to make a ‘Marché de nos Collines’ came the idea to create an area dedicated to promoting the region, its produce, its entrepreneurs and its culture. Naturally the project for the Maison du Terroir came to fruition.
Thus a concept halfway between a cultural area and a gourmet area was created, an invitation to tender for a restaurant proposing local cooking was offered. This was how Catherine and Daniel ETTLINGER seized the opportunity to open a new establishment, The Bistro du Clos.
Le Bistro du Clos, a new concept in Rouret
The concept of the open kitchen in the dining room reinforces the idea of conviviality and closeness between the chefs and the clients. A window looking onto the transformation of the local produce.
The interior design allies decorative cement tiles, wood and metal together. Catherine and Daniel worked with the company Provence & Fils to decorate the interior and work on the concept of a central bar. Beautiful bistro style wooden tables with wrought iron legs, rustic painted wooden chairs, metal chairs and benches. The set-up of the room is such that there are “private corners” as well as large guest tables. The dining room can receive 60 covers in total.
The vintage touch of old publicity posters on the walls and stylised elements from a village café give us the friendly atmosphere that reined in the village bars a few years back. Coat stand made out of billiard balls and table football players, enamelled signs, peanut machine – lamp.
The majority of the interior decoration was created to order by artistes specialising in the recycling and up cycling of objects, such as Angus GROUES or the specialists of recycling old signage KIDIMO. The old publicity posters come from Stéphane BELLEGUIC.
The terrace, which is surrounded by dry stone walling and vines, is accessible by a ramp shaded under an arch of roses. Square tables of Vichy tiles are mixed with round tables and taupe metal chairs. Approximately 80 covers can be served on the terrace.
The kitchen team is joined together by Chef Benjamin Bernard Luneau concocts humble dishes in the open kitchen like on a theatre stage for its clients. Camille Videment our Maître d’Hôtel insures a friendly family atmosphere with her young and dynamic team.
A daily dish for 13 euros, a market menu for 26 euros (3 starters, 3 mains, 3 desserts to choose from), a children’s menu for 8 euros (main + dessert), a large menu choice which changes with the seasons and a daily blackboard with the chefs suggestions. This is what Daniel ETTLINGER has created with his team in order to highlight the local and seasonal produce in an authentic fashion.
A convivial place, the Bistro is not simply a restaurant. With a continual service you can enjoy a breakfast, have a coffee in the afternoon or a glass in the evening. The ideal meeting point for friends.
The Michelin Guide recently designated the Bistro du Clos and the team, a “BIB GOURMAND” in its’ latest 2014 issue.
Opening hours
8h30 – 23 h 30 (Lunch: 11h30 – 14h00 & 19h00 – 22h00)
Closure: Sunday and Monday