La Côte Saint-Jacques
Three generations of the Lorain family on the banks of the Yonne, with two stars and a long record of sustainable cooking.
- Joigny
- 2 h 08 from Beaune
- 2 MICHELIN stars
- Menus from €112
€875there and back from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Chef
- Jean-Michel Lorain
- Cuisine
- Modern French, classic signatures
- MICHELIN Guide 2026
- guide.michelin.com
- Official website
- cotesaintjacques.com
Getting there
Driver to dinner and back: 2 h 08 by road (199 km) each way, €875 there and back for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the restaurant
La Côte Saint-Jacques is a two-Michelin-star restaurant and five-star hotel on the River Yonne at Joigny, in northern Burgundy, about two hours from Beaune. Jean-Michel Lorain, who now shares the menus with his nephew Alexandre Bondoux, also earned the Michelin Green Star, an award the guide retired in May 2026. Go for refined classical cooking, a cellar of some 800 wines and a riverside setting that suits an overnight stay.
The story
Marie Lorain opened a family guesthouse here in 1945, and her son Michel turned it into a serious restaurant. His son Jean-Michel, who trained with the Troisgros brothers in Roanne, at Taillevent in Paris and with Frédy Girardet in Switzerland, joined him in 1983 and won the third star in 1986, at the age of 27.
The house lost that star in 2001, regained it in 2004 and has held two stars since 2015. Alexandre Bondoux, Jean-Michel's nephew, joined the kitchen in 2019 and now signs the menus with his uncle, while the family also runs a bistro, Le Bistrot des Générations, and an 800-square-metre spa.
The cooking
The cooking is refined and generous, with house signatures such as the lobster blanquette and veal sweetbreads with ginger served alongside newer seasonal dishes. A kitchen garden, close ties with local producers, natural and organic wines and a serious policy on waste earned the Green Star in 2021. The cellar lists around 800 references from France and beyond, under head sommelier Axel Thomas.
Your evening
How the evening works
- 1Book your table
Directly with the restaurant. Weekends, the harvest and the Hospices de Beaune auction in November fill up weeks ahead.
- 2Book 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.
- 3Back to your hotel
Your driver waits nearby while you dine, up to 3 hours, then drives you home. Nobody has to drive.
Tips for your visit
Joigny is about two hours from Beaune by the A6, so this is a full day out or, better, an overnight stop on the way to or from Paris or Chablis. At lunch, menus start at €112 from Wednesday to Friday and €132 from Wednesday to Sunday; the longer menus cost €235 to €320, with wine pairings available. The restaurant is closed on Monday and at Tuesday lunch. Book well ahead, and let a private driver take the long motorway stretch so that the whole table can enjoy the wine.
Telephone +33 3 86 62 09 70
Around here
What to see before dinner at La Côte Saint-Jacques, nearest first.
Questions
La Côte Saint-Jacques holds two MICHELIN stars in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide France.
Did you know? Jean-Michel Lorain was just 27 when La Côte Saint-Jacques won its third star in 1986.
Sources
La Côte Saint-Jacques: there and back with a driver
Return trip from Beaune from €875 · up to 4 guests