Le Julianon

The story

Le Julianon, Senlis: Creative French Cuisine in a 17th-Century House

A 17th-Century Setting for Bold, Seasonal Cooking

In the heart of Senlis, a small stone house built in the 1600s holds a restaurant that feels both intimate and quietly ambitious. Le Julianon occupies a warm, wood-toned dining room where oak tables and comfortable armchairs invite guests to settle in for a meal that changes with every service. The name itself is a family story: an anagram of the daughters Juliette and Manon.

Chef Richard Baïma’s Path from Grand Maisons to His Own Table

Richard Baïma trained under some of the most respected names in French gastronomy – Michel Sarran, Jean-Michel Lorain, Dominique Le Stanc, Marc Pralong, and a decade as second at Alain Senderens’ Lucas Carton in Paris. In 2007, a last-minute cancellation led him to Senlis, where he opened his own restaurant instead of joining a luxury brigade. His cooking reflects that journey: rigorous technique applied to simple, bold combinations of exceptional ingredients.

A Daily Menu Built on Exceptional Produce

There is no à la carte at Le Julianon. A single menu evolves daily, driven by what Baïma finds at market. His approach is one of restraint – no more than three or four components per dish – to let each element speak. That might mean blue lobster poached and smoked in hay with Oise melon and verveine, or wild turbot confit in violet garlic butter with artichoke and Amandine potatoes. Desserts are equally precise: a maize polenta with Valrhona white chocolate, bergamot, and peanut crumb, or Grand Cru Guanaja chocolate with parsley, mascarpone, and whiskey.

Every detail is made in house, from the bread to the sourcing. Vegetables come from a local producer practicing reasoned agriculture; fish from a small-boat fisherman in Dieppe; meats and foie gras from a Parisian butcher. This commitment to artisans and terroir is the backbone of Baïma’s cuisine.

The Michelin Guide has called Le Julianon “a charming little 17th-century house with a bright contemporary décor, where the chef offers inventive cooking that plays tactfully with textures and flavor harmonies.” Since 2022, the restaurant has been listed as Michelin Recommended – a mark of consistency and creativity that regulars have known for years. As Gault & Millau put it, this is a table where “you feel immediately adopted, the moment you cross the threshold.”