Le Botaniste - La Chenevière

Le Botaniste is a fine‑dining restaurant housed in an 18th‑century manor set in a large English garden and a permaculture potager that evolves with the seasons. The kitchen collaborates with the château’s gardeners and organic grower Pierre Vandaële; the potager supplies over 100 varieties that feed the menu, the kitchen minimises waste by using leaves, roots and peelings, and on‑site beehives kept since 2012 provide house honey used in dishes and cocktails and offered for sale. The restaurant works exclusively with Normandy farm producers, favours short supply circuits and uses organic ingredients whenever possible; it offers a dedicated vegetarian menu, a seasonal menu and a chef’s tasting menu and is recognised by Gault&Millau and the Michelin Guide. Former stables and dining rooms are decorated with herbariums, floral fabrics, dried flowers and touches of green, beige and gold; large bay windows surround tables and offer majestic views over centennial exotic trees and the cultivated gardens. The property includes different salons and a terrace overlooking the gardens for relaxed drinks and gatherings. Cuisine is contemporary and seasonally driven, rooted in farm‑to‑table principles and executed with modern techniques; a strong vegetable influence from the on‑site permaculture garden informs inventive vegetable‑centric preparations alongside seafood and meat sourced from regional producers. Didier Robin serves as Chef Director, supported by head chef Hugo Genty and pastry chef Simon Beauruelle. Specialities include a Vegetarian Menu (starter, main, dessert), the seasonal tasting "Au Fil des Saisons", a multi‑course chef’s tasting menu, Coquille Saint‑Jacques from Normandy, dishes built on permaculture garden produce and cocktails made with garden herbs and house honey.