When in France, eat Michelin Star food, especially if you’re staying at Château de Berne.

The wonderfully romantic five star hotel is surrounded by love groves and views that are straight out of a novel. While we have always known the food at their gourmet Benjamin Collombat restaurant is exceptional, now it has been confirmed, having just been awarded a star in the Michelin Guide!

Part of the Relais & Châteaux network, renowned for its excellent food, Château de Berne has all the ingredients for spectacular food. It sits within the vineyards of the Var hinterlands, it is a successful mix of Provencal country chic and sophistication.

The chef

Of course, much praise has to go to the chef himself. Benjamin Collambat trained at the Nice School of Catering and was second in command to Guy Martin at the Grand Véfour. After spending three years at his Michelin-starred restaurant in Draguignan, he joined Château de Berne in April 2016 to set up his own gourmet restaurant. Providing an intense experience that has become known across the region, he is accompanied by a passionate and driven team, whose collective goal is always the heights of culinary expertise.

Born and bred in the South of France, Collambat is a devotee of Provence’s local produce, its flavours and scents. So for all its sophistication, the menu is a poetic ode to the natural surroundings of the hotel, serving fruit and vegetables grown in the vegetable garden as well as quality produce sourced from small producers.

The restaurant

The restaurant provides a variety of spaces to dine in, bringing neo-classical décor to a bright, airy conservatory as well as intimate lounges and a dining room, decorated in beige and earthy tones. There is also a spacious terrace in the shade of the olive trees for al fresco dining in the warmer months.

The experience

As an area renowned for gourmet dining, the hotels cooking school is in perfect harmony with the area, so a visit to the Michelin Star Château de Berne is also a chance to learn how to turn fresh, local produce into dishes full of taste and poetry, and then sample your handiwork accompanied by wines from the domain alongside your classmates.

For the ultimate foodie, there’s even the option to dine at the ‘chef’s table’, seeing the Michelin Star man at work in his kitchen and tasting dishes with him in an exclusive and intimate dinner behind the scenes in his kitchen. It includes a tailored Taster Menu put together using the very best regional produce and is for a minimum of two people.

FIND OUT MORE