Auberge de Clochemerle

The story

Auberge de Clochemerle – Michelin-Starred Modern Cuisine in Le Perréon, Beaujolais

Surplombant les vignes du Beaujolais, l’Auberge de Clochemerle is a stone house in Vaux-en-Beaujolais where Chef Romain Barthe and his wife Delphine, a sommelière and granddaughter of local vignerons, have created a place rooted in the rhythms of the land. “My cuisine tries to transform nature’s gifts into elaborated essences without losing the indispensable lightness,” Barthe writes. His cooking is high in colour and flavour, a modern cuisine that changes with the seasons and earned the restaurant a Michelin star.

The dining room opens onto the vineyards, and the experience is built around discovery. Two tasting menus — the “M” and the “E” — are each matched with wines chosen by Delphine. The “M” menu offers an entrée, main, cheese and dessert, while the longer “E” menu is a four-plate surprise dégustation. Both include apéritifs, wine pairings and coffee, and are designed to showcase the produce of the region in a playful, refined way. A picnic among the vines with a local grower, Jean-Luc Longère, and a tasting in his vaulted cellar, is another way to taste the place itself.

The atmosphere is convivial, the service warm. Barthe describes himself as an “eternal apprentice” before the vastness of what nature offers, and that humility comes through in every plate. The Michelin star, awarded for high-quality cooking, recognises a kitchen that balances technical precision with a sense of place and pleasure.