At Odette’s, a brilliant wine-grower’s restaurant!

In Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, almost in the shadow of its church, a charming house welcomes you at the entrance to the Domaine Frédéric Mabileau. It is home to the restaurant run by Charly, the son of the late winegrower, whilst his brother Rémy manages the estate’s wine-growing operations. Together with his partner Juliette, Charly serves up a delightful menu featuring seasonal, local and often organic produce.

The history of the site

You can’t get more winemaker than that!‘Chez Odette’is situated on Rue… du Pressoir. It takes its name fromCharly’s grandmother, whoused to cook up delicious meals in this house during the grape harvest. Frédéric Mabileau and his wife Nathalie therefore paid tribute to Odette by opening a restaurant, which was initially run by a manager before being taken over by Charly Mabileau. To do so, he had to give up everything he’d been building up in Bordeaux with Juliette: first a catering business, then a restaurant on top of that. It was a brave move, this return to his roots and settling in the countryside for Juliette, a Parisian… But what a boon for western Touraine!

Book a table at Odette

Charly, the Boss!

As the eldest of the siblings, Charly was set to take over the family vineyard after six years of studying viticulture and oenology. But in the end, he realised it wasn’t really his calling. So he changed course, taking a year out in the USA… and landing a job in a fine-dining restaurant in North Carolina. It was a revelation! On his return to France, Charly resumed his culinary studies at the renowned Ferrandi school in Paris, where he met Juliette, a student of hospitality management. You know the rest of the story.

At Odette, the couple are constantly reinventing their cuisine with a menu that changes every fortnight, depending on seasonal produce and their inspiration. Juliette sets her husband challenges, which he rises to with great skill. The result is inventive, flavourful and unpretentious cuisine. Quality ingredients for beautifully presented dishes. I loved it!

Visit the Frédéric Mabileau estate

An example of a menu from Chez Odette!

To whet your appetite, here are the dishes on offer at the start of March 2025:

Starters

Pork belly, confit egg yolk, red wine sauce and roasted onion (read between the lines: a modern take on œuf meurette!)
Raw Nantes prawns, crème fraîche, chilli oil infused with prawn heads and raw squash
Maize blini, red kidney bean purée, oyster mushrooms, BBQ sauce, fresh herbs and pickles

Main courses

Braised beef shank, raw and cooked beetroot, and reduced jus
Squash gnocchi, Fourme d’Ambert cream, roasted squash, pickled pear and walnut and rosemary crumble
Monkfish tail wrapped in Colonata bacon, green curry cream, roasted mushrooms and cabbage

Cheeses & Desserts

Platter of mature cheeses, fruit confit
Oven-roasted Saint Marcelin with accompaniments
Chocolate and fleur de sel shortbread, chocolate ganache, coriander seed praline and hazelnut ice cream
Gin and citrus baba, mandarin and ginger sorbet

Everything was excellent from start to finish, as were the appetisers served with the ‘Odette-style’ Spritz…!

Chez Odette

In a nutshell at Chez Odette in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

Creative, locally sourced cuisine

A seasonal menu updated every two weeks, organic produce and dishes bursting with flavour.

Food and wine pairings take centre stage

Wines from the Frédéric Mabileau estate served by the glass, with a tasting before ordering.

A warm welcome, reasonable prices

A friendly atmosphere, attentive service and excellent value for money.

Wines, service, prices…

The appeal of a restaurant attached to a vineyard is that you can sample its wines as part of afood-and-wine pairing menu at very reasonable prices. This is all the more appealing given that, whilst Domaine Frédéric Mabileau has its roots in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil (an AOC producing exclusively red wines, made from Cabernet Franc), it also owns vineyards in Bourgueil and in Anjou, producing some very pleasant white wines.

As for the setting and service, the experience is pleasant and unpretentious. You feel right at home, whether you’re inside or on the terrace, amongst the restaurant, the garden and the wine cellar; the family atmosphere instilled by Odette is very much in evidence. And frankly, when you have lunch or dinner here, you get your money’s worth! The prices are reasonable given the quality of the cuisine: €10 to €12 for starters, around €20 for main courses, and another €10 or so for desserts. A three-glass wine pairing for €17; for each wine served by the glass, customers are invited to taste it before confirming their choice. A touch that really highlights the quality of the service!

To top it all off,do take the time to have a chat with the restaurant owners: they’re absolutely lovely. As for me, I’ve got just one thing on my mind: to go back soon to taste and buy some Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil at Domaine Mabileau, then sit down at Odette’s for another culinary adventure!