Christopher Coutanceau

I have been to multiple Michelin starred places, and all I can wonder is why and how did this place lose its 3rd star? It's by far my favorite restaurant experience.
The setting is amazing, especially if you are lucky (as we were) to enjoy a sunny day and high tide over the Plage de la Concurrence.
Service is attentive and not overbearing, from welcoming you to the restaurant, explaining the history of the house, and explaining all the dishes.
Of course, the food is the star of the show. It's of course all seafood - the chef is after a "fisherman chef". The seasonality of the seafood is interesting, and I would gladly try again in a different season to taste different in-season products. But it's not just the seafood (even though that squid is something to die for!): we were all very impressed by the light and creative desserts.
All in all, it's an experience. And one we will gladly come back for. We loved it.

It was worth to save and wait for this unique restaurant experience. What a treat - thanks to the entire crew in the restaurant and behind the scenes. The food, decor, personell, wine list and atmosphere are all at highest Michelin 3star level. This was an unforgettable joy and true privilege to experience.

Two Michelin stars restaurant, so pretty hard to be disappointed. We went for the signature menu and everything was amazing. They adapted to our wishes. Great products, cooked in wonderful ways. I think we talked about it for one hour after leaving as we were really impressed – and it was not our first starred restaurant.
Staff was great and took good care of us. The atmosphere is pretty calm and the new decor is reminding of the ocean. Loved it.
You really should go if you're in you're in town.

A three Stars in La Rochelle for a change in my Paris Star Marathon (cf Googlemaps list)
I took a break from Paris and I tried the best one star deal in the west of France, and then the only 3 stars there is on the entire Atlantic cost.

A master class on the Ocean.

There’s a lot to say. I’m glad I went there once I was close to a hundred stars under my belt because it gave me perspective. To make it short, focus only on 3 points (which is already a lot and more than usual). The ingredients, the harmony and the brigade.
The ingredients. First, the chef is playing with gold. Actually, a part of it reminded me of the best Japanese sushi ya, with the utmost quality of their fishes and seafood. You ll have some of the best raw seafood that you can ever have. But then, the chef starts its master class and cooks, grills, turns into jelly or powders even foam. You’ll explore and discover an ocean of possibilities.

The harmony. Once you have the ingredients are able to decline them, you want them to resonate with others. The chef finds what ingredients have in common, and then what they can bring to each other so they can resonate creating an harmony. Yes, every dishes resonate with harmony. Furthermore, every dish resonate with the previous one, creating an overall ensemble. For me, this strong sense of first finding the common point and then building on it to look for how they can complement each other into creating an harmonious ensemble is clearly the chef incredible gift. It is even more striking when you reach the dessert. The chef pâtissier is clearly gifted, and must have brought his note to the partition, but the music belongs to the chef.

The brigade. This brings me to the last point. The brigade de cuisine is an army and it’s a challenge to make it harmonious. But you also have the brigade de salle (the waiters, maître d hôtel, etc…). Here you have a quite big restaurant for 2 or 3 stars. They were 17 the day I was there. It’s a little army and reaching this size you’re in a dilemma. More people, better service, because more for each table. But more people, more chance that something is forgotten or mixed up, like it almost did in my case. I have nothing but praise for the Maître d hôtel and how it was handled. It was just interesting for me to witness how scaling is hard for everyone (scaling in quantity and/or quality) regardless of the business you’re in.

The dress code/atmosphere: it’s a three stars baby! People make an effort.
The crowd: more relaxed than I thought. Seemed very local. I thought I’ll spot some tourist but I did not. I think they were a lot of clients that were there “just” for the food. A lot of couples obviously.

My experience: a masterclass on the ocean

Update. Google sent me this : "Our moderation systems and processes identified that it contains content that is considered either Off-topic, Offensive, or Dangerous or Derogatory"
Nice try...

Cooking was perfect (I think that’s the first time I’ve written that!). The quality of every dish was excellent. Very enjoyable!

Didn’t expect anything less than perfection. Impeccable meal, great service and beautiful dining environment. Thanks to the staff for a lovely dinner.

5/5. If you area a foodie, and a seafood lover, I think this is a must visit place. From the interior, dishware, plating to ingredients, CC does an amazing job of sharing their interpretation of the ocean. Great food, great service. Will visit again.

Waiting for something for too long, you can only be disappointed...or so we thought, before experiencing C. Coutanceau's restaurant. Yes you will have to book in advance, but on D-Day, it doesnt get any better than this.
The staff is amazing, very high standard of service which remains friendly and warm at all times. We also discovered a wonderful and affordable wine thanks to the sommelier. In regards to the food, it is a heaven of creativty and a perfection in its execution, from appetizers to desserts.
Definitely worth the Michelin 3 stars, and probably at the top of the list.
Thank you again to the whole team for this wonderful time.

Spectacular lunch in a beautiful setting with amazing service.

Very nice restaurant and view, incredible food (mussels were excellent: wife opinion) , very professional staff (apart for the aperitif where the waiter was all smug because he was so happy to sell us his expansive champagne, like if we did not know). Only thing is I was sick all night after eating there. Anyway, worth every penny.

Just popped in for lunch today and had the most amazing experience. From the rosé champagne aperitif to the final mouthful of the dessert - our lunch was a triumph. I shall remember the service and the food for always.

A real TREAT!

This restaurant not only have a real panache, but a great great story and real history behind.
Favourite of President Mitterrand, apparently Chef Coutanceau sent back his Michelin stars. A real food-experience-land-mark in La Rochelle, France.
The views are excellent as the location.

But the real star in a restaurant of this standards is the service: second-to-none. Really professional and swift. They are many of them, around you at all times, ready to top up your water or wine or bread. But you never feel like they are on top of you. They never interrupt. And most importantly: nothing is too much trouble.
They make you feel comfortable.

And then there is food.
Coutanceau made me realised that in France, sometimes, is better to spend the extra pounds in a really really good restaurant as at the end is better value for money. There is so many restaurant where you pay quiet a lot but then when the food arrive you realise that you are paying way too much for what it is. Too late.
Coutanceau delivers again, again and again in flavour, in technique, in presentation, in seasonality.
From the bread and the seaweed butter to the last petit four is very difficult to fault it.

There is lots of works done in the kitchen to deliver the dishes. And I'm sure they are proud. I am.

I always feel a bit nervous when I arrive and enter this great palace of what food and service combine suppose to be. But very quickly I remember that those extra pounds I will be spending will bring me buckets of joy with a touch of history and lots of real panache.

Have a look at my pictures. And enjoy.

Excellent service! The best dessert I ever had in my life. Excellent food but not really surprising, I expected a bit more originality in the plate for this kind of restaurant.

Worth a journey to have a fantastic meal at this beautiful restaurant. Should also mention great service. Each time I go there, I feel like I'm coming home.

A party of flavors and beauty. Incredible dishes, amazing service and taste that is not easily found. Great.

outstanding experience and ambience! enjoyed a special evening thanks to all the Coutanceau-Team!

Lovely time! Fantastic good adventure with very smart and competent personnel. Go ahead!

Superb. Excellent food, and great service. Not cheap, but worth it.

one of the most amazing places we have been

Superlatives are lacking me. Sublime!