Portraits

For more than 40 years Michel Guérard has been shining in the firmament of French culinary arts with his immutable 3 stars in the Michelin Guide. This creative genius has been able to breathe new life into French culinary arts with his “cuisine nouvelle” and his famous “cuisine minceur”.

Despite his amazing career, this eternally young man with his mischievous look, boasts an amazing humility and great generosity.

As a man of passion, Michel Guérard has oriented his career around the concept of love. His love for culinary arts, of course, but also and above all his love for his wife Christine with whom he has created this little haven called Les Prés d’Eugénie. At present, this love story has been transformed into a family story with the arrival of their two daughters Adeline and Eleonore to the executive management of the company.

Olivia Le Calvez, a woman of action and passion, has the gift of transforming each one of her favourites into successes. In 2002 she was enchanted by a shipowner’s mansion of the 17^th century in the harbour of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. After two years of refurbishment, the Hôtel de Toiras opened its doors. It rapidly reached its consecration. In 2005 the hotel became a member of Relais & Chateaux and in 2010 the first five-star hotel of the Poitou Charente region. However, tireless Olivia did not rest on her laurels. In a little alley of Saint-Martin she discovered a new gem: a former private mansion dating back to the 18^th century. She refurbished it and dedicated it to wellness and wellbeing. Opened in 2011, Villa Clarisse was immediately awarded four stars.

In parallel, her love of wine from the earth led her to a new adventure. In 2009 she acquired, together with her husband, a five-hectare vineyard in Puisseguin-Saint Emilion which they named after their daughter, Château Clarisse. Today the estate encompasses 20 hectares and its wines are served at the best restaurants in 20 countries around the world.

As a leading figure and benchmark in the international luxury hospitality industry, Didier Le Calvez has served in the most prestigious luxury hotels and palaces in the world. From the Plaza in New York to the George V in Paris via the Regent in Singapore, the Pierre in New York or the Bristol in Paris, Didier Le Calvez has demonstrated throughout his professional career his skills to elevate each property that he ran to the highest level of excellence.

In parallel, Didier Le Calvez acquired in 2009, together with his wife Olivia le Calvez, a vineyard of 5 hectares in Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion. Château Clarisse, is today an estate of 20 hectares whose wines are served in the most prestigious restaurants in 20 countries around the world.

In order to implement a project which had been maturing for some time, Didier Le Calvez partnered with his wife Olivia Le Calvez in 2017 to develop Ré-Consulting & Heloise’s Choice.

“He took over the restaurant gently, loyal to Alsatian cuisine, and perpetuated one hundred years of expertise, the art of living, the passion for good produce and authentic flavours. The Haeberlin family cooks like it breathes.”

“I am part of the fourth generation of chefs. This passion comes from my father. Now I like to re-develop dishes which he has created and find the balance between tradition and modernity. The pleasure of sharing cuisine is an incomparable alchemy for me which is different every time!”

To revive an almost abandoned domain in the crater of the only volcano of Provence, rich in 1800 years of history, is probably a form of madness that would try to reason. This is the party that our family took, almost twenty years ago.

To revive a vast agricultural starts by reviving  the earth. And if the earth has memory, it is not spiteful. Slowly, the vines produced beautiful grapes allowing us to hoist our wines to the best level, the almond plantation was reconstituted, the truffle was reborn.

To give life back is also to share an exceptional house which, since the beginning of the 17th century, had hardly undergone a transformation.

To share our passions, the wine, the almonds, the truffles, in the remarkable setting of such a beautiful place, is it not to make it live as it was thought, many centuries ago, as an experiment to share.

Pierre, Nicole and Bérengère GUENANT, the owners

Graduated from Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine – Ferrandi, followed by  the school of Hautes Etudes du goût at the university of  Reims, Thibault Peyroche starts his career in 4-star hotels of the Bordeaux area. He then follows his dream and opens his own restaurant, « La Table de l’Horloge », which has been highly appreciated by the Michelin Guide and receiver 1 Michelin Star.

Motivated by his spirit of adventure and his love of novelty, Thibault decides, 10 years after, to close his restaurant and follow an international career, beside the Pourcel brothers. He cultivates his open-minded spirit and satisfies his thirst of discovery during his experiences in North Africa, French Polynesia and Seychelles

Back in France, Thibault becomes the Executive Chef of the fine dining restaurant « L’Imaginaire Terrasson », with 1 Michelin star, for the Villa Navarre in Pau.

Passioned, determines and sincere, the Chef Thibault Peyroche starts today his new adventure, in the exceptional La Table d’Olivia. He offers a fine and authentic cuisine, putting the local products in the spotlight. He mostly loves cooking vegetables, fish and spices. Thibault takes a great pleasure in offering his guests the chance of discovering forgotten vegetables, an unknown spice or an original way of cooking.

British of Iranian origin, over the past 20 years he has built up an impressive portfolio of investments in fashion, restaurants, transport, real estate and hotels industry, gathered within the company Alitas.

After working for large multinationals such as Coca-Cola and Philip Morris, Javad Marandi moved into real estate development and investment.

Owner of the Sofitel in Brussels and the Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, he undertook an ambitious project and acquired the Chais Monnet in 2016 from the City Council of Cognac to renovate it into an independent luxury hotel. After two years of renovation, the hotel became the first five star hotel in Cognac.

As a enthusiast of great vintage wines and French gastronomy, he was delighted with the announcement of the Michelin star award ceremony which is going to be held in Cognac on 18 January 2021.

Owner of the Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa in Cognac

With more than 26 years of experience in the hospitality and restaurant industry, Emmanuel Brin joined La Villa Baulieu as Managing Director – Maître de Maison in 2018 alongside Pierre and Bérangère Guénant, owners of La Villa Baulieu.

His know-how and expertise are the result of his various experiences in Food & Beverage, Catering, Sales and Marketing. Following his study at the Institut Vatel, he is passionate about Food & Beverage industry and began his career at the Parc Floral de Paris as an Executive Assistant.

Endowed with a strong management ability and organizational quality, he continues in Events Management in Operations and Sales. He then joined the Concorde Hotels & Resorts group and stayed there for more than 13 years, ending as F&B Revenue Manager of the European headquarters. During his time at the head office, he was responsible for several international sales markets. Finally, he was Managing Director of the Villa Duflot, a member of the Les Collectionneurs by Alain Ducasse.

We love his passion for the terroir, his customer service and his contagious dynamism. Emmanuel meets all the clients individually and Heloise’s Choice admires this keen sense of service.

General Manager of the Villa Baulieu – Maître de Maison