Les Botanistes

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Where Plants Lead and Flavour Follows

At Les Botanistes, the guiding idea is disarmingly clear: every dish is built around a vegetable or plant as the star, with the right protein added as a carefully chosen companion. The result is a style of French cuisine that feels both disciplined and alive — seasonal, locally sourced, and genuinely original.

The restaurant is the work of three distinct culinary voices: the finesse of Jean-Luc Boulay, the flair of Arnaud Marchand, and the delicacy of Emeline Péro. Together they have shaped a kitchen — a "brigade botanique," in the restaurant's own words — whose mission is to discover and celebrate the best of the plant world without ever losing sight of pleasure.

The Room and the Terrasse

The space seats around a hundred guests, with a luminous open kitchen at its centre framed by living green walls. An outdoor terrasse extends the experience into the open air, where nature and culture, quite literally, meet. The atmosphere is convivial and generous rather than hushed and formal — a place where time feels a little suspended.

What Arrives at the Table

The evening menu reads like a series of precise botanical arguments. A starter pairs crispy sweetbreads with turnip purée and blackcurrants marinated in Perséides vinegar from La Villa. A main of Quebec red deer comes in a cacao-nib crust alongside red cabbage with pink pepper and juniper berry, finished with a grand veneur sauce built on sea buckthorn. Scallops arrive two ways — seared in brown butter and in a crispy longuet — with sunchoke and king oyster mushrooms from O'Champignons. Every ingredient is named, every producer acknowledged.

Weekend brunch brings the same botanical logic to the morning: house-smoked salmon eggs Benedict with fennel and citrus salad, or a crispy brioche with caramelised mushroom labneh and soft-boiled egg. A five-course tasting menu, composed around market arrivals, is available at dinner for those who want the full arc.

The wine list earned Les Botanistes a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025 — a recognition that reflects the care given to pairings, whether through the curated wine list or the cocktail programme built to match the kitchen's botanical register.

Rooted in Quebec

Producers appear throughout the menu by name: Ferme Orléans, Cassis Monna & Filles, Floramiel, Canard Goulu, Kaviari. This is French cuisine anchored firmly in Quebec's terroir — not as a marketing claim, but as the actual structure of every plate.