--- title: "Le Valucien: 1-Star MICHELIN Restaurant in Vault-de-Lugny" description: "Le Valucien is the one-Michelin-star restaurant of the Château de Vault-de-Lugny, a moated castle and hotel near Avallon, about 1 hour 15 minutes from Beaune." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/le-valucien-vault-de-lugny lang: en updated: 2026-10-02 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/restaurants/le-valucien-vault-de-lugny.png --- # Le Valucien > Le Valucien: a starred table with Mauritian accents inside a moated castle near Avallon. Le Valucien is in Vault-de-Lugny (Yonne), 1 h 24 by road (118 km) from Beaune. 1 MICHELIN star · Menus from €69 · Private driver there and back from Beaune: €550 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Le Valucien is the one-Michelin-star restaurant of the Château de Vault-de-Lugny, a moated castle and hotel near Avallon, about 1 hour 15 minutes from Beaune. Mauritian-born chef Franco Bowanee has cooked here since 2008 and has held the star since 2019. Go for refined Burgundian cooking lifted by the spices of the Indian Ocean, ideally with a night in the castle. ## Key facts - Type: Starred restaurant · 1 MICHELIN star - Where: Vault-de-Lugny · Yonne - Location: 90 km north-west of Beaune · Yonne - Coordinates: 47.4956, 3.8549 - 1 h 24 from Beaune - 1 MICHELIN star - Menus from €69 - Chef: Franco Bowanee - Venue: [Château de Vault-de-Lugny](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-vault-de-lugny) - MICHELIN Guide 2026: [guide.michelin.com](https://guide.michelin.com/fr/fr/bourgogne-franche-comte/vault-de-lugny/restaurant/le-valucien-chateau-de-vault-de-lugny) - Official website: [lugny.fr](https://lugny.fr/) - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h 24 · 118 km - €550 there and back from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Getting there - [Driver to dinner and back](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h 24 by road (118 km) each way, €550 there and back for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Book your table with the restaurant, then the car for the same evening. Your driver waits while you dine, up to 3 hours, and drives you back. Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## The story Franco Bowanee trained in Port Louis with Nizam Peeroo, joined the château in 2008 and later spent time with Paul Bocuse. He won the star in 2019 and has kept it since, and his pastry chef, Karina Laval, was named pastry chef of the year for Burgundy-Franche-Comté by Gault & Millau in 2024. The castle, with its moats and tall square keep, stands in an 80-hectare private estate on the edge of the Morvan. It is now a hotel of just sixteen rooms and suites, and the restaurant has become one of the main reasons to stay. ## The cooking The cooking brings together Burgundian produce, including vegetables from the château's garden and poultry raised on the estate, and the spices and flavours of Mauritius. The menu is renewed through the year, with a hunting menu in autumn and a lobster menu, and cheeses come from Maison Bordier, matured by a Meilleur Ouvrier de France. Beneath the castle's vaults, the cellar gives pride of place to the grands crus of Burgundy. ## Good to know Vault-de-Lugny is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Beaune, six kilometres from Avallon. Menus start at €69 for two courses, with fuller menus at €98, €165 and €192 and a lobster menu from €98. Dinner is served every evening, lunch at weekends and on public holidays. The château closes in winter, so check the dates before you go. It makes a fine evening after a day at Vézelay; a private driver can bring you back to Beaune afterwards, or you can take a room for the night. Telephone: [+33 3 86 34 07 86](tel:+33386340786) ## Did you know? The castle's pastry chef, Karina Laval, was named Gault & Millau's pastry chef of the year for Burgundy-Franche-Comté in 2024. ## How the evening works 1. **Book your table**: Directly with the restaurant. Weekends, the harvest and the Hospices de Beaune auction in November fill up weeks ahead. 2. **Book the car**: Choose the restaurant on our booking page: pickup at your hotel at the time you like, and a fixed price for the return trip. 3. **Back to your hotel**: Your driver waits nearby while you dine, up to 3 hours, then drives you home. Nobody has to drive. ## Around Le Valucien What to see before dinner at Le Valucien, nearest first. ### Things to do - [Musée de l’Avallonnais Jean Després](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-de-l-avallonnais) (4 km away): Avallon's free town museum, from local archaeology to the Art Deco silver of Jean Després and a rare Yao collection. - [Avallon](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/avallon) (4 km away): A walled town on a granite spur above the Cousin valley, with Romanesque portals and a clock tower. - [Musée du Costume](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-du-costume-avallon) (4 km away): A new exhibition of period clothes every year, in the rooms of a town house once owned by the princes of Condé. ### Villages - [Irancy](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/irancy) (28 km away): The red wine village of the Yonne, set in a bowl of vines and cherry trees. ### Châteaux - [Château de Vault-de-Lugny](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-vault-de-lugny) (1 km away): A moated castle with a tall square keep near Avallon, now an intimate five-star hotel. - [Château de Chastellux](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-chastellux) (12 km away): A towered fortress at the gateway to the Morvan, still lived in by the family of its name. - [Château de Bazoches](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-bazoches) (14 km away): The castle Vauban bought with a royal reward, and turned into a workshop for his military engineers. ## Questions about Le Valucien ### How many MICHELIN stars does Le Valucien have? Le Valucien holds one MICHELIN star in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide France. ### Who is the chef at Le Valucien? The kitchen of Le Valucien is led by Franco Bowanee. ### How do we get to Le Valucien from Beaune? Le Valucien is about 1 h 24 from Beaune by road (118 km). With a private driver, the return trip from Beaune, with the car bringing you back after dinner, starts at €550 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. → [Driver to dinner and back](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ### Can the driver wait and drive us back after dinner? Yes. Book the return trip: your driver takes you to Le Valucien, waits nearby while you dine, up to 3 hours, and drives you back to your hotel. Nobody in your party has to drive. ### Do we need to book a table at Le Valucien? Yes. Book your table directly with the restaurant, well ahead for weekends, the harvest and the Hospices de Beaune auction weekend in November. We book the car, not the table. Its official website (lugny.fr) has the booking details and opening days. ### How much is dinner at Le Valucien? According to the restaurant, menus start at €69 per person. Prices change with the seasons, so check before you go. ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=restaurant:valucien): Return trip from Beaune from €550 · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - - - --- Canonical page: