Le Bistrot Français expands with a brasserie and modern art gallery

The fine dining restaurant Le Bistrot Français Relais & Châteaux, owned by Le ManoirGroup, is expanding its operations with a new concept: a brasserie and modern art gallery. Le Bistrot Français – Brasserie is located on the ground floor of the luxurious villa behind the Romanian Athenaeum, while the haute cuisine restaurant, renamed Epicurian, operates on the first floor of the same venue.

“We wanted to cater to a broader audience without compromising the quality for which Le Bistrot Français is known. The brasserie, including its terrace, has extended opening hours and offers a typical French menu for breakfast, lunch, brunch, apéritif, and dinner, targeting young and active customers. The Epicurean restaurant remains a benchmark for fine dining in Bucharest,” says Cristian Preotu, the owner of Le Manoir.

The brasserie menu is created by Chef Patricio Massimino, who has extensive experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury boutique hotels, specializing in Mediterranean and French cuisine. His principles, based on three elements – product, technique, and seasonality – which harmoniously blend into the tasting menu at Epicurian, are also reflected in the dishes offered at Le Bistrot Français – Brasserie in a friendly and accessible environment.

Born in Argentina and raised in Madrid, Spain, Chef Patricio Massimino embarked on his gastronomic journey at the age of 18. With a deep passion for food and a thirst for culinary knowledge, he pursued studies in gastronomy in both Spain and France, building a strong foundation in Mediterranean and French cuisine. His time in the Caribbean brought a captivating influence, combining Caribbean and Asian flavours and adding a vibrant and exotic style to his culinary repertoire. Throughout his career, Chef Patricio Massimino has honed his skills in renowned Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury boutique hotels, always focusing on fine dining.

Romanian Contemporary Art

While the former Le Bistrot Français restaurant was renowned for its ambient collection of classical art (which has been taken over by the new Epicurian and displayed on the first floor of the building at 18 Nicolae Golescu Street), the brasserie presents a contemporary vision of Romanian art. Under the curatorship of art critic Adrian Buga, the brasserie will exhibit rotating works by contemporary Romanian artists.

“With the painting titled ‘Where Love Begins,’ Teodora Gavrilă, a contemporary Romanian artist, invites us to decipher the chromatic story of the artworks displayed at Le Bistrot Français. The initial impression is one of tranquility found in a chromatic universe, where Teodora becomes a storyteller/craftsman of her own feelings. The open spaces discovered by the curious eye in her works function as elements of her discourse, establishing a relationship between the linearly created beings and the attentive viewer. The artist doesn’t need an elaborate setting, as she distributes her emotions directly onto the canvas, which become frames within frames, inviting us to discover visually narrative love stories. By observing the artworks and connecting them through our own eyes, like in a film montage, we create our own scenario for the love story, where color never exceeds the imagined line. Teodora has the power to create a new world, inviting us to explore the lines and colors in a special place: the place where love begins!” explains Adrian Buga.