AUVERGNE

Opening of the restaurant at the Hotel Saint-Roch
Salzuit (Auvergne)
Opened: 2014
http://www.hotel-auvergne-saintroch.com [2]
Opened in 2009, the Domaine St Roch has recently opened its restaurant. Located in the heart of the Auvergne natural area, this entirely renovated hotel comes with a spa and a panoramic view from the restaurant. Local products and seasonal dishes are served for lunch and dinner. A natural pool is also in the planning stage.

AUVERGNE

One-Star Chef Cyrille Zen Opens Le Bistrot Zen
Montpeyroux (Auvergne)
Opened: May 2014
http://lebistrotzen.com [3]
After earning a Michelin star in 2011 and making it to the finals in season 3 of Top Chef, Cyrille Zen has opened his second restaurant, Le Bistrot Zen. Located in one of France's Most Beautiful Villages, the restaurant merges tradition with modernity. In keeping with the changing seasons, new dishes are featured every month, but always showcasing local produce.

AQUITAINE

Milwaukee Café, Made in the USA
Biarritz (Aquitaine)
Opened: October 2013
http://www.facebook.com/milwaukeecafe [4]
Cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other North American concoctions are the specialty of this café recently opened in Biarritz by Wendy Abbebberry, her husband (a Basque former professional US-based pelota player) and her daughter Emilie.

Riding Horses Through the Saint Emilion Wine Area
Saint Emilion (Aquitaine)
Opened: May 2014
http://www.aterreacheval.com [5]
A Terre A Cheval (On Earth on Horseback) offers trips on horseback into the UNESCO-listed Saint Emilion vineyards. Lasting from two hours to a full day in length, these accompanied riding tours cross through Grands Crus growths as well as small family-owned properties. A wine tasting is, of course, part of every program.

Lunch and Dinner Cruises on the Garonne River
Bordeaux (Aquitaine)
Opening: Autumn 2014
http://www.bordeaux-river-cruise.com/7-restaurant-cruise [6]
Bordeaux River Cruise's new 300-passenger boat-restaurant rounds out the company's fleet. The 90-minute lunch and dinner cruises it hosts are perfect for taking in Bordeaux's UNESCO-registered facades, while its wine cruises hit vineyards all along the river. The boat can also be used for receptions and special events.

L'Atelier Restaurant by Joël Robuchon
Bordeaux (Aquitaine)
Opening: End of 2014
http://www.bernard-magrez.com [7]
L'Atelier is the latest delicious undertaking by Joël Robuchon, the famous chef who currently has 25 Michelin stars (he has held as many as 28, a world record). Located right in Rue de Tivoli, directly across from the Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez and within Magrez's new La Grande Maison hotel, L'Atelier will include both a gourmet restaurant and a more relaxed and affordable eating area.

Thomas L'Hérisson Receives 1 Michelin Star
Saint Jean de Blaignac (Aquitaine)
http://www.aubergesaintjean.com [8]
In 2014, the Auberge Saint Jean was awarded one Michelin star. The owner and chef, Thomas L’Hérisson, returned to his native Aquitaine in 2010 when he commenced his work at the auberge in Saint Jean de Blaignac, a village 20 minutes from Saint Emilion. Prior to this, he had studied overseas and worked in several prestigious Parisian restaurants, including Le Grand Véfour.

Patrice Lubet, 2014 Gault & Millau Young Talent Award
Hossegor (Aquitaine)
http://www.jeandessables.com [9]
Patrice Lubet was awarded the trophy for young talent in 2014 by the Gault & Millau guide, recognizing his work as a chef under 30 who celebrates regional cuisine and local produce. After years of training under a number of famous chefs, Lubet now manages his own restaurant (owned by the Cousseau family), the Jean des Sables, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Hossegor, north of Biarritz. The menu showcases seafood, with a special emphasis on lobster, scallops and langoustines.

FRENCH ALPS

Chez Pépé Nicolas
Val Thorens / Les Menuires (French Alps)
http://www.chezpepenicolas.com [10]
This unique chalet has been respectfully renovated in keeping with its ancestral Alpine soul and traditional Belleville architecture. Keeping to themes strongly associated with strongly-held values of family and sharing, there are three new dining rooms: the Cave, the Grange and the Laiterie. Anchored in an expanse of untouched snow, Chez Pépé Nicolas is an authentic dining choice and must-visit destination for anyone who wishes to sample traditional recipes and understand the history of the area’s pioneers.

Eric Samson Now Hotel Koh-I Nor’s New Head Chef
Val Thorens (French Alps)
http://www.hotel-kohinor.com [11]
Michelin-starred chef Eric Samson has decided to use his talents at the Hotel Koh-I Nor, where he now creates inventive, refined winter cuisine in keeping with the values of the hotel: convivial and luxurious, but never ostentatious. This comes after 10 years as a Relais & Châteaux head chef, earning his first Michelin star at the Hôtel Des Neiges in Courchevel and then a second star for his L’imaginaire restaurant in Terrasson-Lavilledieu at the heart of the Dordogne.

K2's Kintessence Earns Second Michelin Star
Courchevel (French Alps)
http://www.hotellek2.com/en [12]
Along with Cheval Blanc and Les Airelles, the K2 is Courchevel’s third palace (five-star luxury hotel), out of 14 palaces recognized in the whole of France. 2014 was an auspicious year for this renowned establishment, as it also saw its gastronomic restaurant, Le Kintessence, receive its second Michelin star.

Le Four 7
Tignes (French Alps)
http://www.tignes.net/en [13]
This new restaurant in Tignes 1800 offers unconventional cooking in a lounge atmosphere: Asian specialities, marinated meats, teppanyaki cooking and snacks. With wide open spaces and modern decorations, the Four 7 is a break from the typical mountain restaurants.

Le Jardin de Joséphine
Les Menuires
Opened: July 2014
http://st-martin-belleville.com/tourism/!/fiche/le-jardin-de-josephine-204241 [14]
This old farm building was recently converted into a restaurant and christened Le Jardin de Joséphine (Josephine's Garden) in memory of the owner’s grandmother who once kept a large kitchen garden here. With an interior design keeping to garden themes, the restaurant also boasts a pretty bistro-style terrace with views of Saint Martin. On the menu: homegrown vegetables, fresh herbs and local produce. The wine list emphasizes rare grape varieties that some winemakers are striving to rehabilitate.

Le Bouche à Oreille
Les Menuires
Opening: December 2014
http://en.lesmenuires.com [15]
René and Maxime Meilleur, the Michelin two-star chefs from La Bouitte, have opened a new gourmet bistro at the top of the Roc des 3 Marches, at an elevation of 8,850 feet. The restaurant, Le Bouche à Oreille, has undergone a complete transformation, its new alpine-design dining room able to seat 170 people. A large terrace on two levels seats a further 250 and opens out to superb 360-degree panoramic views. (The site alone has two stars from the Michelin guide.) On the menu: trout with almonds, veal shank, meat on the spit, light blueberry waffles.

Marmotte Hotel
Les Gets
Opening: Winter 2015
http://www.hotel-marmotte.com [16]
After renovation work in the hotel's common areas, the Marmotte is focusing on its culinary offering and will open two new restaurants: La Pivotte, which will specialize in a Savoyard cuisine of both traditional favorites, like fondues and raclettes, and less well-known local dishes; and La Biskatcha, an atmospheric mountain-side brasserie. The hotel restaurant, renamed La Piste Noire, will now offer chef Camille Cimbault's refined cuisine to nonresident clients as well. The Marmotte is also home to La Païka, whose huge terrace makes it one of the most popular mountain restaurants in the area.

LOIRE VALLEY

Linottes for Bistro Buffs
Tours (Loire Valley)
http://www.leslinottesgourmandes.com [17]
For bistro buffs in the Touraine, the name Les Linottes sounds good to the ear and the palate. Since 2013, a talented young chef, Pauline Testier Unger, has set up shop in Tours and offers an original menu in perfect harmony with her selection of Loire wines.

Cuisinez-Moi, Tours Buzz
Tours (Loire Valley)
Opened: January 2013
https://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/Cuisinez-Moi/146190705539128 [18]
In 2013, Tours was all abuzz about this place. Chef Thomas Mouhatcheff set up Cuisinez-Moi with a singular mission: to help us rediscover the hamburger. Not the bad fast food kind, of course, but a regal burger made from fresh, local ingredients. Here, meat from the market is minced every day, fries are cut every day, cheese is picked up from a nearby artisan and bread purchased from a baker. There's also excellent cod fish 'n' chips, a selection of Loire wines and homemade desserts.

Vincent, the Country Cook
Ingrandes-de-Touraine (Loire Valley)
Opened: June 2013
http://vincentcuisinierdecampagne.blogspot.fr [19]
Here's something a little different: a native of Cork (Ireland), Vincent Simon came to the heart of the "Garden of France" to open a restaurant, Vincent Cuisinier de Campagne, like no other in Touraine. With his wife, Olivia, he hosts a maximum of 10 to 12 guests per service and prepares a menu from fresh produce only, taken from their own and neighboring farmyards. The wines themselves are straight from local producers' cellars.

Fresh Inspiration at Restaurant l'Assa
Blois (Loire Valley)
Opened: November 2013
http://www.assarestaurant.fr [20]
"Assa" means "morning" in Japanese, which sets a perfect tone for Anthony and Fumiko Maubert, who concoct the restaurant's gastronomic cuisine using regional products, but always with a touch of something Japanese. Anthony, who trained under a host of superb chefs, grew up amid the farm-fresh produce of Mayenne, which instilled in him a creativity guided by nature's whims. Fumiko, who was raised in a region of Japan famous for its sake, is a nutritionist by training and a pastry chef by trade, two areas of expertise she combines in her work.

Fontevraud Le Restaurant
Fontevraud (Loire Valley)
Opened: May 2014
http://www.fontevraud.fr [21]
After three years of study, 20 months of work and 16 million euros, the Saint-Lazare priory at Fontevraud Royal Abbey has been turned into a hotel and restaurant, the first "cultural resort" in France. Now it is possible to sleep in the calm silence of the Abbey, have breakfast in the priory orchard or walking alone through Fontevraud as night falls. On the ground floor of the priory, installed around the cloister and opening onto the garden, Fontevraud Le Restaurant has been conceived by chef Thibaut Ruggeri as "a journey between tradition and modernity." Its particularity is its simple and austere character, which is linked to its religious and then penitentiary past. The key was to seize the essence of this past so that diners in the restaurant would not forget where they are. The restaurant is attached to an innovative iBar (with touch-screen tabletops) located in the priory's former chapel.

New Chef at Lièvre Gourmand
Orléans (Loire Valley)
http://www.lelievregourmand.com [22]
Emilie and Tristan Robreau have recently taken the helm of this prestigious restaurant in June 2014. Widely-traveled, the talented young chef Tristan professes a love of Asian cuisine and describes his cuisine as "rather fusional." The Zen-like serenity in the kitchen extends to the salon, which overlooks the Loire, and the small dining room set for a limited number of clients per sitting.

PARIS

Bustronome
Paris
Opened: September 2014
http://www.bustronome.com [23]
The first traveling restaurant in Paris, Bustronome combines touring and culinary delights on board an Imperial bus: an unusual and delicious way to discover the capital. During a journey past the most beautiful Parisian sights, mobile gourmets can share a meal for 2 or as many as 8 guests. On the menu are different tours to appreciate Parisian architectural heritage along with tasty recipes combining high-quality, refined and creative cuisine based on the flagships of France’s cuisine.

POITOU-CHARENTES

Les Orangeries: International Sustainable Restaurant of the Year
Lussac-Les-Châteaux (Poitou-Charentes)
http://www.lesorangeries.fr/restaurant [24]
Situated in the old wine cellar of the hotel, but with a bright atrium for use in summer and a fireplace for winter, Les Orangeries restaurant has been singled out as the International Sustainable Restaurant of the Year 2014 by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Dishes are crafted from locally sourced seasonal produce – some of it from an on-site organic garden – that combine great gastronomy and a respect for the environment.

RIVIERA

Pierre Gagnaire and Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos Join Creative Forces
Cannes (Côte d'Azur)
Launching: September 24, 2015
http://www.lucienbarriere.com/fr/hotel-luxe/Cannes-Majestic-Barriere/accueil.html [25]
Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos and Pierre Gagnaire have formed an unique partnership to evolve Fouquet's brasseries menu. This will include the creative touch of chef Pierre Gagnaire while preserving the famous Parisian brasseries' core values: a particular attention to products and a true respect for traditional French gastronomy. This new venture will begin with the team at Fouquet's Cannes, followed by the brasseries in Paris, Marrakech and Toulouse, all working with Pierre Gagnaire's own staff.

RHONE-ALPS

L’Osteria
Courchevel (Rhone-Alps)
Opened: December 2013
http://www.courchevel.com [26]
L'Osteria is a combination wine cellar, Italian deli and restaurant offering an authentic village-inn family-style cuisine.

Les Chenus
Courchevel (Rhone-Alps)
Opened after renovation: December 2013
http://www.restaurants3vallees.com [27]
This mountainside log cabin with a sun-kissed terrace and breathtaking panoramic view welcomes skiers and pedestrians every day of the winter season for lunch. The fully renovated restaurant promises the warmth of a fireplace, cozy atmosphere and good traditional mountain food. Les Chenus is accessible via cable car from Courchevel and la Tania.

Kintessence
Courchevel (Rhone-Alps)
http://www.hotellek2.com/en/an-epicurean-universe.html [28]
In February 2014, Kintessence restaurant, located in the Hotel K2, was bestowed a second Michelin star. This award recognizes Chef Nicolas Sale's commitment to delicately prepared dishes served in an intimate atmosphere.