A wine and food pairing paradise.

For such a small village, Chablis definitely isn’t short of excellent places to eat. I guess we should expect that from a country with such a renown gastronomic scene. We spent a magical few days there last October which was both a blessing, but also slightly frustrating. A blessing in that we barely saw any other tourists and enjoyed winery visits that were both relaxed and private. A curse in that we missed out on *two highly recommended restaurants due to the owners taking a well-earned holiday after dealing with said tourists! Nonetheless, we discovered three spots that we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend for anyone visiting Chablis, and now have even more reason to return to see if the ones we missed will live up to the hype. Based on our favourites below, we have no doubt they will.

Les Trois Bourgeons

This had to be our find of the trip. It’s rare today in particular to find a place of this quality where you get the cheque at the end of the dinner and wonder if the server forgot to charge you for a couple of dishes. It is indeed recommended by Michelin and for good reason.

Michelin recommended & we agree.

Located in an old cellar of its next-door neighbour Domaine Laroche, Les Trois Bourgeons translates to “The 3 Buds”, referring to the 3 friends from Japan that opened the restaurant, and giving a nod to the village’s draw as a wine destination (vine buds).

Chef Takeshi Otomura headed to France after working 8 years in Tokyo restaurants. His resume includes stints at Le pré verre and Trou Gascon in Paris, the latter a Michelin-star establishment. He then worked at another Michelin-star restaurant, this time in Valencia Spain, La Cachette. In 2009, he took the helm as head chef at (you guessed it) another Michelin starred restaurant in Nice, Keisuke Matsushima.

Escargots…bien sur!

Les Trois Bourgeons is both contemporary and cozy located off one end of the main strip in Chablis’ town centre. On the night we visited, he was the only one looking after about a dozen patrons. We were astonished watching him effortlessly turn out the most exquisite looking (and tasting) dishes, while opening and pouring wines, taking orders, all without skipping a beat.

The menu is small—always a good sign in our books if one is truly in keeping with fresh, local ingredients—offering a starter, main and desert for just €34. We would have easily paid a lot more for this level of quality.

Finally, although less surprising, the wine list was very well curated featuring a wide variety of local selections not easily found outside of France.

Wine Not Wine Bar

Outstanding charcuterie offerings.

While the name might imply something different, this was local in every sense of the word. Although located in the heart of the main village road, we were the only non-locals and we were lucky to get a table without a reservation. The walls were adorned with all kinds of wines ranging from Champagnes to Bordeaux but, of course, the focus was on Chablis.

From the moment we sat down, the staff were incredibly friendly and wonderfully knowledgeable guiding us to some wine choices we likely wouldn’t have made without their suggestions. They also offered up a fantastic range of tapas that included charcuterie, escargot, tartines and … karaage (Japanese chicken nuggets)!

Wine Not?

The real star of the show (as you would hope with any wine bar), was its wine list. It was truly world-class, and nothing wins us over than a staff member recommending a wine based on taste rather than price. Ours not only provided a terrific background of some of his local favourites, he actually talked us out of a more expensive wine as a result.

Wine Not had such a terrific & lively vibe, even with our limited time, we made a point to visit more than once.

Le Maufoux

Le Maufoux

A relatively new restaurant next door to the William Fevre tasting room, this was a perfect spot for lunch in between wine tastings. Casually chic, the ambiance made you feel welcome without a hint of pretention.

The two-man team of Ivan and Jeremy have sister restaurants in Beaune and Mersault and based on our experience in Chablis, we will definitely ensure we visit them if ever in those two regions.

Festin fantastique.

Our table of 5 opted for the prix fix menu, which like Les Trois Bourgeons was fantastic value at €35 for a starter, main and dessert. Between the 5 of us we had pretty much every menu item offered which included such classics as escargots, oeufs en meurette (eggs poached in wine), duck confit, and a local ham dish. Everything was cooked to perfection and there wasn’t a disappointed diner in the group.

*[Authour’s note: the Restaurants we didn’t have a chance to visit due to being closed were Au Fil du Zinc and Kimm & Ridge].