L'Épicurien

The story

L'Épicurien Colmar: A Refined French Bistro in Petite Venise

The kitchen and its philosophy

At L’Épicurien in Colmar, Chef Nicolas Groell and his partner Noémie Mann run a refined bistro built around seasonal ingredients and a deeply personal hospitality model. Groell trained across major kitchens in France and abroad before choosing the Petite Venise quarter as his home base. His kitchen follows a strict product-first rhythm, shaping weekday lunch menus around daily market arrivals while reserving the dinner service for more elaborate preparations. The kitchen avoids trend chasing in favor of disciplined technique.

Ingredients and signature plates

The menu highlights robust cuts like the 100 percent Bellota Iberian pork pluma glazed with sweet chili and the Irish Black Angus fillet finished with béarnaise sauce. Every butcher plate arrives alongside house-cut fries cooked in duck fat and roasted market vegetables. Seafood options shift toward Patagonian wild prawns paired with citrus emulsion or line-caught cod resting on celery mousseline. Guests often round out the meal with an aged cheese board sourced from Fromagerie Quesnot, featuring Munster Fermier and organic goat varieties.

The dining room and its standing

The space sits quietly off a cobblestone street in Petite Venise, where bare stone walls and carved wooden rafters create a compact, intimate environment. Le Fooding included L’Épicurien on its 2026 roster specifically praising how Groell still swims in the pots and pans he fell into as a child. Guests navigate the wine wall independently, selecting from rare Rhone bottles and familiar Alsatian labels before moving to the pastry station for strawberry and rhubarb tart or Alba glacier sorbets. Rigorous cooking and relaxed hosting share equal weight at the table.