Maison Lameloise has occupied a former coaching inn at the heart of Chagny — a small Burgundy town between the Côte de Beaune and the Côte Chalonnaise — since 1921. Three Michelin stars arrived in 1979 under Jacques Lameloise and have been held, with rare interruption, ever since. Éric Pras — Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2004, trained under Troisgros, Loiseau, Gagnaire, and Marcon — took over in 2009 when Jacques retired, and his Burgundian cooking has earned La Liste 95 points and sustained one of the most consistent provincial three-star records in France.
The History
Three generations. Pierre, Jean, Jacques. Then Érid Pras walks in and says: Tradition is the future.
The Lameloise family took over the Hôtel du Commerce in Chagny in 1921 — a former post house with the high French ceilings, sculpted wooden staircases, and vaulted rooms that the building retains today. Pierre Lameloise ran it first; his son Jean from 1944 to 1971; his grandson Jacques from 1971 until his retirement in 2009. Under Jacques — who earned the restaurant's second Michelin star in 1974 and the third in 1979, becoming at the time the youngest chef in France to hold three stars — Lameloise became one of the most celebrated provincial restaurants in France and a gateway to Burgundy's wine country for generations of visiting gastronomes.
When Jacques retired, the kitchen passed for the first time outside the family. Éric Pras was Jacques's sous-chef — the natural heir, a man who had been absorbing the house's cooking and ethos for years alongside one of the most demanding training histories in French haute cuisine. He had started working in restaurants at 15, earned his chops under Michel Troisgros, Bernard Loiseau, Pierre Gagnaire, and Régis Marcon — all three-star chefs — before joining Lameloise and earning the Meilleur Ouvrier de France title in 2004. His stated philosophy — "Tradition is the future" — is not a conservative retreat but an active argument: that the Burgundian terroir he cooks from is itself a living tradition that demands constant engagement rather than mere replication.
The Food & Philosophy
Snails. Bresse poultry. Charolais beef. Morvan hazelnuts. And two thirds of the wine list from Burgundy.
Pras's cooking is rooted in Burgundian terroir with the same directness that the region's wine makers bring to their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: the best possible raw materials, handled with technique that reveals rather than conceals them. Burgundy's greatest ingredients define the seasonal menus — Bresse poultry from the plains to the north, Charolais beef from the volcanic uplands, snails from the hedgerows and vineyards, Morvan hazelnuts from the hills to the west, asparagus in spring, truffles in winter. The supply chain is as short and direct as possible: Bresse butter appears on the breakfast table, not a supermarket equivalent.
The wine list — 900 labels, two thirds of them Burgundy — is as distinctive a feature of the restaurant as the cooking. Lameloise sits in the middle of the Côte Chalonnaise, the less famous southern Burgundy wine corridor whose villages (Mercurey, Givry, Rully, Montagny) produce wines of extraordinary quality at prices that the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune can no longer offer. The list includes approximately thirty wines from Meursault — the celebrated Chardonnay village 10km to the north — and forty from Gevrey-Chambertin. Drinking Burgundy in Burgundy, matched to cooking that sources from the same geography, produces a coherence that is impossible to replicate in Paris.
It's impossible to sum up in just a few lines the story of this institution, whose star-studded career begun back in 1926! Yet Lameloise is far from nostalgic. Éric Pras: "Tradition is the future."
MICHELIN GUIDE FRANCE, ON MAISON LAMELOISE
What Defines Lameloise
The post house. The snails. 900 Burgundy wines. A century of constancy.
Burgundy Escargots — The Regional Essential
The dish that most directly expresses the Burgundian identity of the kitchen: snails from the region's hedgerows and vineyard edges, prepared with parsley-garlic butter in the classical tradition but executed with the precision of Pras's MOF standards. The snail preparation at Lameloise is the benchmark for what Burgundian cooking at three-star level does with its most emblematic ingredient — not transformed beyond recognition but made as good as the tradition allows.
Bresse Poultry — The King of French Chickens
Bresse AOC poultry — the most celebrated chicken in France, raised in the plains between Burgundy and Savoy under strict regulations that limit stocking density and require free range and cereal finishing — appears throughout Pras's menu in preparations that reflect both the bird's quality and Burgundy's sauce tradition. The cream sauces, the morel mushroom preparations, the wine-based deglazes that define the Bresse chicken's classical pairings are all present and all at a level that justifies the ingredient's reputation.
The Wine List — 900 Labels, 600 from Burgundy
Two thirds of 900 labels from Burgundy — including roughly 30 from Meursault, 40 from Gevrey-Chambertin, and deep coverage of the Côte Chalonnaise appellations immediately surrounding the restaurant. The sommelier team navigates the list for guests at every price point. A commitment: order from the nearby appellations (Mercurey, Givry, Rully, Montagny) that appear on the list at prices that allow informed exploration without the expense of the famous communes to the north.
The Post House Dining Rooms
The former coaching inn's architecture — high French ceilings, sculpted wooden staircase, vaulted rooms — has been preserved through each restoration, providing a series of warm and individually appointed dining rooms that feel like the historic hospitality institution they are. The building itself is listed as one of Burgundy's architectural treasures. Eating in a room that has hosted travellers on the Dijon-Lyon road for three centuries produces a specific quality of historical continuity that purpose-built restaurants cannot offer.
Charolais Beef — The White Cattle of Burgundy
The white Charolais cattle that graze across the limestone uplands of western Burgundy produce beef that is among the finest in France — lean, deeply flavoured, with the specific mineral quality of animals raised on pasture rather than grain. Pras works with Charolais in preparations that emphasise the meat's natural qualities: slow braises, precise roasting, and the classical Burgundian wine sauces that are the region's technical signature.
The Proximity to Beaune
Chagny is 10km south of Beaune — the wine capital of Burgundy — which means that a meal at Lameloise can be combined with visits to the Hospices de Beaune, the wine négociants, and the great domaines of the Côte de Beaune. The combination of a three-star lunch and an afternoon in Beaune's cellars is one of the great one-day itineraries available in France for guests who love both food and wine.
Before You Go
Everything practical, plainly told
- Address: 36 Place d'Armes, 71150 Chagny, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France
- Phone: +33 3 85 87 08 85
- Website: lameloise.fr
- Getting There: Chagny is in southern Burgundy, 10km south of Beaune on the N74. The nearest TGV station is Chalon-sur-Saône (15km south, 15 minutes by taxi) with direct services from Paris-Gare de Lyon (1h45). Dijon is 50km north (40 minutes by car). Lyon is 120km south (90 minutes). A hire car allows free exploration of the surrounding wine villages.
- Hours: Open Thursday through Monday for lunch and dinner. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Annual closure in January — verify at lameloise.fr. The hotel has 17 rooms and suites in the former coaching inn — staying overnight and combining dinner with a morning visit to Beaune is the ideal itinerary.
- Bookings: Via lameloise.fr. Book 4–6 weeks ahead for most dates. The restaurant is somewhat less competitive than Flocons de Sel or Mirazur given its lower international profile, making it one of the more accessible three-star reservations in France. The lunch service (Thursday to Monday) provides a relaxed, unhurried entry point.
- PRICE
- Price: Tasting menus from approximately €180 (shorter format) to €240 (full menu). Wine pairing additional. The Burgundy wine list offers exceptional value at all price levels relative to Paris or London list markups. Staying overnight in one of the hotel's 17 rooms turns the meal into a destination experience. Confirm current pricing at lameloise.fr.
Maison Lameloise isn’t a meal—it’s a legacy. A place where Burgundy’s terroir is both muse and mentor, where Chef Pras’s knife carves history into every plate, and where three Michelin stars shine as brightly as the region’s storied vineyards. For those who seek the soul of French cuisine, rooted yet reinvented, this Chagny jewel is where the past and present clink glasses.