La Grande Maison is the gastronomic restaurant of the luxurious five star Relais & Chateaux La Grande Maison in Bordeaux, France. La Grande Maison is located in a wonderful late nineteenth century mansion where French art de vivre and excellence are omnipresent.

Orchestrator of La Grande Maison is Bernard Magrez who combines the art of haute cuisine with the art of fine wines and contemporary art, that is displayed all over the hotel and restaurant. The hotel is located just outside the centre of Bordeaux in a residential area. The hotel only features six rooms but they all breathe luxury and elegance. For more information about the hotel, please consult our Hotel section.

The gourmet restaurant is located in three different prestigious areas that all have their own identity. The décor is an interpretation from the Napoleon III style and is elegantly executed. Special wood panelling and grey trimmings are combined with curtains in varying colours. The atmosphere lives up in the evening when small table lamps from Baccarat and chandeliers bring cosiness. One of the lounges, the library of the former owner Léon Duguit, gathers restored books on high traditional shelves. Also the table setting breathes elegance, with tableware from Christofle, Baccarat glasses, decanters and presentation plates from Erick Ifergan. In the ‘Olivier room’, one will find blown glass chandeliers from Murano, timeless art works from the Bernard Magrez collection, and a fireplace.

The kitchen of La Grande Maison Bernard Magrez is led by visionary Pierre Gagnaire. His restaurants shine all over France and the rest of the world. In Bordeaux, he started recently writing a new chapter together with Executive Chef Jean-Denis Lebras. Together they settled down in Bordeaux and offer menus created with the best local products and representing the ‘Grand Cru Cuisine’ Bordeaux deserves.

Executive Chef Jean-Denis Lebras originates from French Brittany and has been working with Pierre Gagnaire for eleven years. He worked in Sketch in London and at restaurant Pierre in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The chef shares the sensitivity for ‘grande cuisine’ from Gagnaire. To enhance taste and pleasure, they offer a personal creativity based upon great local products. It is pretty normal to meet Jean-Denis at the famous Capucins Market in Bordeaux, where he likes to get terroir products and talks to local producers.

The dishes coming out of the kitchen are based on the French cuisine with a local twist. Products from the Aquitaine region are the star and are served recognisable on the plate. They come directly from the producers, without intermediaries. Some dishes are prepared at the table, creating a show and an experience for the guests. One à la carte choice mainly consists out of four to five different servings around the chosen theme. An example is the lamb with one-side lamb chops from Pauillac with oregano. Next to it comes the saddle in caul casing with white beetroot and black radish. The second side dish is the sweetbread and kidneys coated in its juice with niora pepper together with a black butterfly pasta, and medjoul dates. This richness of servings is truly one of Gagnaire’s signatures.

The service in La Grande Maison is remarkably professional and led by the Hotel & Restaurant Manager Julien Gardin, who is also one of Gagnaire’s trustees. In short notice they managed to create one of the best restaurants in Bordeaux. The sommeliers of the restaurant offer 259 Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés, which is a unique collection in the world.

Service, excellent fine dining and a unique wine selection constitute an inseparable trio at restaurant La Grande Maison. This place offers a memorable French Haute Cuisine experience in Bordeaux, signed by ‘ambassadors of excellence’ Pierre Gagnaire and Bernard Magrez.

Written by Sven & Frank