Domaine des Etangs, Auberge Collection has introduced a new culinary direction at Dyades, its Michelin-starred restaurant in the Charente countryside of southwest France. Led by Executive Chef Valentin Bouilleveaux, the menus place estate-grown vegetables and carefully sourced regional produce at the centre of the experience.
Bouilleveaux has headed the kitchen since April 2026, shaping a refined, plant-led style informed by the principles of agriculture paysanne. Seasonality and the quality of each ingredient guide dishes connected to the estate’s organic kitchen garden, lakes and nearby farms.
The estate provides much of the produce used in the kitchen. Domaine des Etangs extends across 2,500 acres near Massignac, with a 13th-century château surrounded by forests, pastureland, orchards and waterways. Seasonal produce is picked daily from an organic garden arranged in a spiral, creating a direct link between the grounds and the plate.
“The Domaine’s kitchen is simply an extension of the estate’s 2,500 acres,” Bouilleveaux said. “When an ingredient comes directly from our garden or a neighbouring producer, our role is to honor its purest form, bringing the spirit of the land directly to the table.”
Vegetables move to the centre of the menu
At Dyades, Bouilleveaux’s menus give vegetables the detail and precision more commonly reserved for luxury ingredients. Estate-grown zucchini is sculpted into a plant-based cannelloni, while ripe tomatoes are paired with creamy walnut stracciatella.
Fish remains part of the restaurant’s repertoire. Sturgeon from Maison Neuvic, a producer in the neighbouring Dordogne, arrives with kombu beurre blanc, bringing an umami-rich layer to the classic French sauce. The combination reflects Bouilleveaux’s wider approach: regional sourcing supported by modern technique, without obscuring the main ingredient.
The provenance of each product is central to the concept. Ingredients can be traced to a particular garden, waterway or producer, rather than being presented through the broad language of local sourcing. This gives the menu a close connection to the Charente landscape while allowing it to change with each harvest.
Dyades takes its name from the idea of duality, reflected in its balance of rustic tradition and contemporary craft. The restaurant’s intimate country-estate atmosphere follows the same principle, pairing polished service with a sense of place rather than a formal urban dining-room mood.
Dyades enters its next Michelin-starred season
The new direction follows an important period for Dyades. The restaurant received a Michelin star in 2025 and retained it in March 2026 under Chef Matthieu Pasgrimaud and his team. Pasgrimaud has since moved on to other culinary projects, with Bouilleveaux taking charge the following month.
Bouilleveaux did not lead the restaurant when its star was awarded or retained, but he is now responsible for maintaining that standard while establishing his own plant-focused identity. The estate’s media information describes his cooking as a seasonal vision that continues the restaurant’s fine-dining ambitions.
His arrival formed part of Domaine des Etangs’ wider plans for the 2026 season. General Manager Damien Bastiat also joined the property, with both appointments intended to preserve the estate’s established character while developing its connection to nature and the surrounding agricultural community.
The wine list follows the landscape
Dyades’ wine programme takes a similarly terroir-conscious route. Organic and low-intervention bottles sit alongside wines from small producers, sought-after Bordeaux vintages and less familiar French appellations.
The range allows pairings to move between established names and more exploratory choices without losing the French focus. It also complements a menu built around delicate vegetables and freshwater produce, where balance may matter more than the power traditionally associated with formal château dining.
The concept is grounded in identifiable origins. Produce from the garden can appear beside sturgeon from a named regional supplier, while the cellar gives smaller winemakers space alongside prestigious Bordeaux labels.
Dining beyond the main restaurant
Dyades is the signature restaurant, but food is woven throughout the wider estate. Domaine des Etangs’ dining programme includes private meals in the château, barbecues in the chef’s garden, picnics in secluded glades and outdoor lunches beside the ponds.
Breakfast is served at The Bistronomic Table, the château’s private dining room. The morning selection includes patisserie made in-house and eggs prepared to order, supported by local cheeses, charcuterie, farmers yoghurt, pressed juices and seasonal produce.
Guests staying in one of the six independent Farmhouse Cottages can dine privately at La Table de la Métairie. Menus range from barbecue platters and quiche Lorraine to boeuf bourguignon, beef rib or winter raclette, offering a more relaxed counterpoint to Dyades.
Elsewhere, meals can be arranged on a row boat or among ruins in the estate’s fields. Dyades also hosts brunch on the final Sunday of each month, focusing on sweet and savoury flavours from the Charente Limousine region.
A second restaurant, Monade, provides the estate’s informal alternative, with family-style dishes designed for sharing. The separation gives Bouilleveaux room to preserve Dyades as the more precise, Michelin-starred expression of his cooking while maintaining a relaxed option for longer stays.
A château stay shaped by its landscape
Centred on its medieval château, Domaine des Etangs has 11 rooms and suites across the main building and The Longère. Its six Farmhouse Cottages have between one and five bedrooms, making them suited to couples seeking privacy as well as families staying together.
The scale of the estate supports experiences closely related to Bouilleveaux’s sourcing philosophy. Guests can work in the kitchen garden, join beekeeping sessions or go truffle hunting. Horse riding, cycling, fishing and guided birdwatching offer further ways to explore the grounds, while wine and cognac tastings connect the stay to the wider region.
Le Moulin, the estate’s spa and wellbeing space, provides a quieter retreat within the property. Flower arranging and photography workshops are also among the experiences planned around the landscape, positioning the hotel as a countryside destination rather than simply accommodation for a restaurant visit.
The estate has described its longer-term aim as developing a micro self-sustaining ecosystem, with biodiversity preservation forming part of that work. Its own cattle may eventually supply the kitchens, although no date has been announced for their introduction to the menus.
Domaine des Etangs can be reached from Paris by train in under two hours and from Bordeaux by car in around two hours. Room-only rates start from €450 per night, with Dyades offering the clearest expression of the estate’s new direction under Bouilleveaux.
