Le Doyenné is a restaurant, guesthouse, and farm set within the historical grounds of the Château de Saint-Vrain, in the village of Saint-Vrain, 41 kilometres south of central Paris. The Château was once the country retreat of the Countess du Barry and Borghese family, and has been the home of the Mortemart family for more than two centuries. Le Doyenné sits on the estate’s former stables where the French-American sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle and Swiss sculptor Tinguely created their monumental works in the 70s.

We will join Australian chefs and owners James Henry and Shaun Kelly who have lovingly restored and converted Le Doyenné – the Mortemart family’s name for the centuries’ old barn – into a restaurant and guesthouse. They called upon the expertise of local artisans to preserve the integrity of this classified “historic site”, re-imagining it as the French farmhouse of their dreams.

In the potager, regenerative agricultural practices that have nurtured the land for generations are being revived to grow heirloom vegetables which form the foundation of their culinary offerings.