la Tonnelle

 
La Tonnelle is our favorite restaurant in Bormes-les-Mimosas.  Pascale and Gil Renard own the restaurant and Gil is the chef.  Gil was a chef in Paris but both he and his wife longed to return to their home in the south.  Their lifelong dream came true sixteen years ago when they found the perfect place for them to open a restaurant in their hometown of Bormes-les-Mimosas.

Skip and I ate at la Tonnelle on the very first night they opened 16 years ago (1997).  At the time we were staying the the Grand Hotel (just above l'Orangerie) and had decided to walk down the hill to dinner that night.  We opted to dine at an interesting looking place (we didn't know it was their opening night) called la Tonnelle.  It was a week night (in October) so we were not surprised that there was only one other couple in the restaurant.

Pascale greeted guests and took orders.  We liked her immediately and were happy that she spoke English (very good English at that).  She was obviously proud of the restaurant and the menu.  The other couple finished dinner before us, so we were then the only patrons in the restaurant.  Gil came from the kitchen to thank us for coming and we spoke to him briefly before our meal arrived.  While I can't remember what we had for dinner that evening, I do remember that it was wonderful... and Skip and I both liked the couple a great deal.  After dinner we chatted with them about their move from Paris and the dreams they had for the like in the south.  Gil invited us to have a look at his kitchen, and he was flush with excitement as he pointed out everything that he loved about his kitchen.  It was absolutely enchanting.

While we were involved in touring his kitchen a huge thunderstorm came up and the rains poured.  We couldn't walk back home without getting soaked to the bone, so we asked if they might call a taxi for us.  Gil insisted that was not necessary and that he would drive us up to the hotel... something he said he had never done while working in Paris.  And so the friendship began.

Interestingly, the next year we returned to Bormes-les-Mimosas and dined at la Tonnelle on their exact One Year Anniversary.  Gil and Pascale have added a small children's gift shop and employ several additional people to help them.  They also now have three children, who they say are "almost grown".  It has been a real delight for Skip and me to watch this wonderful couple live out their dreams... and oh, by the way, we have eaten MANY fine meals with them at la Tonnelle.  Just yesterday we had lunch there feasting on yet another fascinating meal while having a ringside seat to watch the 75th Annual Corso fleuri.

No doubt we will see more of Pascale and Gil during our current stay in Bormes and on future visits.