Between its excellent cuisine made using produce grown on site and a clutch of cozy farmhouse-chic rooms, Le Doyenné was already a favorite day-trip escapade for the Parisian fashion set.

Now there’s one more reason to make the one-hour trip outside Paris: a 10-seat private dining room. It’s the latest collaboration of the establishment with Project 213A, the four-year-old design firm of Theresa Marx, Clement Deboeuf and Jurgita Dileviciute, who also cofounded footwear label Jude.

They were already behind the artisanal pieces ranging from ceramic side tables to custom headboards that add a contemporary je-ne-sais-quoi to this address owned by Australian chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly.

After cutting their teeth on the Parisian bistronomic scene, the friends moved to the area in 2017 and began this project that comes an impeccable historic, artistic and now gastronomic pedigree.

To wit: Early records place a stately hall dating back to feudal times on the property, which later became the country retreat of the Countess du Barry, the favorite of French king Louis XV. It is now owned by the Mortemart family, who have called it home for over two centuries.

In the 1970s, the space now occupied by Le Doyenné’s restaurant was the workshop in which artists Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely created their monumental sculptures.

Some five years and a host of highly skilled local artisans capable of preserving the integrity of a listed historical site were needed to convert the centuries-old barn into its current incarnation.

Lofty windows in the restaurant open onto an orchard and expansive vegetable garden, cultivated following regenerative agricultural practices. It has since yielded the excellent produce that’s found on the table — and a Michelin star in 2023.

Le Doyenné
5 Rue Saint-Antoine, 91770 Saint-Vrain
Tel: +33 6 58 80 25 18