January 25, 2026 — 2:00am
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It seems the ultimate act of chutzpah, on paper at least: Australian chefs taking on the French at their own game by opening a fine-dining restaurant and boutique hotel on the grounds of a French chateau.
Even Michelin, France’s feted foodie bible, seems a little surprised by Le Doyenne.
“What are two Australian chefs doing in the heart of the grounds of Saint-Vrain Castle,” its reviewer asks in the guide’s recent edition, “more precisely in the tastefully refurbished former stables?”
Le Doyenne’s dining room: converted barn in the grounds of a chateau.
What indeed? The Michelin inspectors couldn’t bring themselves to award Le Doyenne and its co-creators, James Henry and Shaun Kelly, a coveted star this time (the restaurant has a Michelin Green Star for its commitment to sustainability), but it can’t be far off.
This place is spectacular, as even the French have had to admit. It’s brilliant. It’s the result of hard work and big dreams and more than just a little genius. And those attributes belong to two surfer mates from the other side of the world.
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“It’s been great,” says Henry, relaxing after the lunch service on a patio outside the restaurant.
Australian chefs Shaun Kelly and James Henry in the restaurant’s gardens.
“The French like the fact that the food isn’t overly fussy. It’s cooking with care, but it’s not pretentious.
“The style of service here isn’t overbearing, but it’s present. I instilled in everyone [the staff] that people don’t stumble upon this place; everyone’s made an effort to get here, so just make them feel comfortable.”
It is somewhat of an effort to get here. From central Paris you take an RER (the city’s suburban train network that links it with outlying towns) for about an hour to the village of Bouray. From there, it’s another 10-minute cab ride and then a stroll through the lush estate grounds before you reach Le Doyenne.
The dining room at Le Doyenne is filled with natural light.
But what a spot. Henry and Kelly gained access to the grounds of Chateau de Saint-Vrain – once a country retreat for the Countess du Barry, royal mistress of King Louis XV – via the Mortemart family, owners of the chateau for two centuries.
They transformed the old barn into a beautifully airy restaurant and the old stables into a stylish 11-room hotel. More importantly, the orchard beside the barn has become a farm where the chefs grow fruit and vegetables. The pair also make their own charcuterie from livestock, bake their own bread and create their own world inside the rock walls of Saint-Vrain.
The old stables have been transformed into a stylish 11-room hotel.Evan Sung
Fancy a post-meal soak?Evan Sung
“In Australia it’s pretty common to have a restaurant that would bake bread or dip its toe into charcuterie,” says Henry. “But when I first arrived here people would be like, ‘Why do you want to bake bread? That’s a baker’s job. You don’t make charcuterie, that’s for a charcutier.’ And I understand that, the focus and attention to a craft is important, but it’s just not for me.”
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He is being modest – because there’s an intense passion and focus on the food at Le Doyenne. It changes with the season and harvest, with the whims of the kitchen, and today I’m served an array of dishes that capture the produce-led sensibility of a restaurant built around a farm.
There’s charcuterie and a raw langoustine reclining on brioche soaked in langoustine bisque. We move to crudites, a cold summer salad with clam broth, red tuna with green tomatoes and pistachio and Basque veal rump cap with burnt butter and anchovy.
“I don’t want to define it,” Henry says of his food. “For me, it’s just cooking, just cooking with what we have at our disposal. I want bites you could have in a bistro or a wine bar, and I want plates you could find in more Michelin-starred and refined restaurants.
“Quite often at a fine-dining restaurant, everything has the same meticulous attention to detail and it becomes boring. You need a bit of peak and trough, a bit of tension.”
There might be tension in the menu, but very little as you sit on the patio with a last glass of wine and enjoy petit fours in the sun, catching glimpses of gardens, lakes and geese roaming on green lawns.
If this is chutzpah, long may it reign.
THE DETAILSRelated Article
Le Doyenne is in Saint-Vrain on the southern outskirts of Paris. From €290 ($502) a night, including breakfast. The restaurant is open Thursday to Sunday for dinner and Friday to Sunday for lunch; bookings essential. See ledoyennerestaurant.com
The writer travelled at his own expense.
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Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.Traveller GuidesFrom our partners
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