Les Genêts

The story

Les Genêts – Michelin-Starred Bistronomy in Bretignolles-sur-Mer, France

A return to Vendée

Amélie and Nicolas Coutand have brought their vision home. After a formative stint in Mirepoix, Ariège, the couple returned to their native Vendée to open Les Genêts in Brem-sur-Mer, a village between Les Sables-d’Olonne and Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. The restaurant occupies a fully restored manor house, the Parc des Genêts, with two ground-floor dining rooms of different moods and an intimate upstairs room for private events.

Chef Nicolas Coutand’s career is rooted in serious kitchens: Hôtel Nikko Paris, the Restaurant du Sénat, Troisgros in Roanne, the Richelieu on Île de Ré, Castel Marie Louise in La Baule, and Château de Mirambeau. That experience shows in his cooking, which the Michelin guide has recognised with a star for its high quality.

Two expressions of one style

Les Genêts offers two distinct menus. The bistronomic menu, served Wednesday to Friday lunch (excluding weekends and holidays), is a lighter, market-driven affair. The chef describes it as “un repas léger et parfumé, rythmé par le marché et les producteurs locaux.” It changes frequently – a recent example paired a carrot gazpacho with marinated swordfish, chorizo, and combava. This is bistronomy at its most direct: refined technique, seasonal ingredients, no pretence.

The gastronomic menu, served for dinner and on weekends, is more elaborate. It opens with savoury bites – Nantes prawns with beetroot and wild garlic, grilled asparagus with marinated beef and orange blossom – then moves through fish from the local catch, Vendée pork, and a choice of aged cheeses. Desserts might include chocolate with mango-passion and four spices, or Vendée strawberries with pistachio and coconut.

The garden and the larder

The kitchen’s own garden supplies seasonal vegetables – courgettes, carrots, beetroot, turnips, beans – harvested by the team in the evening and used the same day. Flowers are picked each morning to garnish the plates. Six hives in the garden produce honey, harvested twice a year when the season allows.

The restaurant’s focus on local producers and the Vendée terroir runs through every dish. The bistronomy here is not a label but a daily practice: cooking that is precise, colourful, and rooted in what the land and sea provide.