From Évreux to the Côte d’Azur: a top-class apprenticeship

Nothing in Dimitri Droisneau’s childhood in Normandy suggested that he would one day become one of France’s most admired chefs. Born in Évreux in 1980, he grew up in a family where food took centre stage — with a mother who was particular about the quality of ingredients and simple yet carefully prepared meals. At the age of fifteen, he began an apprenticeship at a hotel-restaurant in Alençon. This marked the start of a meteoric rise: La Tour d’Argent, Maison Lucas Carton under Alain Senderens, Le Bristol alongside Éric Fréchon, and then L’Ambroisie, where he honed his skills under the guidance of Bernard Pacaud.

In the mid-2000s, he left Paris for the Côte d’Azur and joined La Réserve de Beaulieu. It was there that he discovered the produce of the sun, with olive oil gradually replacing Normandy cream — and that he met Marielle, who would become his wife and lifelong partner.

2013: La Villa Madie’s daring gamble

In 2013, Dimitri and Marielle took over La Villa Madie, a restaurant that was struggling at the time and which other chefs had failed to turn round before them. It was a bold, almost reckless gamble. It paid off: in less than two years, the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars. The crowning glory came in March 2022, with the award of a third star — and Dimitri Droisneau’s selection as Chef of the Year at the Trophées Le Chef a few months later.

A cuisine of ecosystems, balancing instinct and humility

Far from rigid menus, Dimitri Droisneau creates his dishes each day using whatever the Mediterranean has to offer: the morning’s catch, herbs from the garrigue, and vegetables from the kitchen garden. His cuisine, which he himself describes as ‘ecosystem cuisine’, captures the immediacy of the Casside region in visually striking and sensitive dishes, where the flavours of the sea and the land interact without artifice.

Despite his Michelin stars, the chef claims above all the title of ‘aubergiste’ — a word he wears with pride, reflecting the philosophy of La Villa Madie: excellence that never seeks to impress, but to welcome.