Auberge Quintessence

The story

Auberge Quintessence – Puget-Théniers | Michelin-Starred Modern Cuisine

La Gastronomie en Altitude

High in the Alps, at 1,700 metres on the Col de la Couillole, Auberge Quintessence sits at the edge of the Mercantour National Park. The air is clear, the silence absolute. This is a restaurant with rooms – seven spacious chambers with king-size beds and mountain views – but the draw is the table.

A Couple’s Vision

Pauline and Christophe Billau met on the Île de Ré in 2000 and settled in the Haut Pays Niçois in 2009. They fell for the Mercantour mountains, and in spring 2017, after months of hard work, they opened Auberge Quintessence. “It’s a unique experience in the art of letting go,” they say. The mountains restore your energy; the inn gives you the rest you often neglect at home; and the chef’s table brings back the taste of the terroir.

That dedication has earned the restaurant a Michelin star – a recognition of the high-quality cooking that Christophe Billau delivers nightly.

The Chef’s Larder

Christophe Billau’s guiding line is a seasonal menu built around local producers. He constantly searches for new growers, and around the inn he cultivates his own “jardin sauvage” – a wild garden of herbs and plants that flavour his modern cuisine. The location makes sourcing a genuine mission, but it guarantees freshness and a sense of place. His wife Pauline runs the dining room and pairs each dish with a wine list that highlights local bottles and mountain-grown appellations.

Dinner is served from 19:30, Thursday through Monday. The experience is intimate, the atmosphere calm, the flavours rooted in the Alps.