Le Soleil in Savigny-les-Beaune

by Daniel Johnnes
August 11, 2021

A dear friend Lola Taboury Bize has finally opened her restaurant Le Soleil in Savigny-lès-Beaune. As luck would have it, the intended opening was March 2020, just a few days after the world collapsed under the weight of Covid-19.

I was saddened that it could not open as anticipated for two reasons. One, I know how hard she had worked on this labor of love and it now had to be delayed, and secondly because she told me she could not attend the 20th anniversary of La Paulée de New York as this was the week she was going to open.

She had been to every Paulée for at least five years and in addition to bringing her smile and Burgundian spirit, she acted as our resident videographer, capturing so many great moments which are now archived for us. So she was terribly missed at our anniversary Paulée.

When Raj and I were in Burgundy a few weeks ago, our first stop for Sunday lunch was at Lola’s lovely patio alongside a tree lined canal on the edge of Savigny. I might have been predisposed to like it because of my fondness for Lola. Anyway it proved to be one of my favorite meals of the ten day trip, second only to our meal at Troisgros.

Now mentioning Le Soleil and Troisgros in the same sentence just isn’t fair. But I love both for similar reasons. Above all, the quality of the ingredients and the superb execution. On equal footing for me is the greeting, warmth of service and overall vibe.

What stood out for me at Le Soleil was the variety and treatment of vegetables. In fact, we ordered only veggies except for one meat dish, a chicken pastilla. But everything else tasted as if it had been pulled from the garden moments before hitting the chopping block, sautée pan or salad bowl.

While the wine list leans toward what some would call “natural” I disagree. I dislike that word and Lola has assembled a list of fantastic, lesser known wines and well known Burgundy estates with the underling principal of quality. We drank a Chambolle-Musigny les Fuées 2010 from Jacques Frederic Mugnier.

I can not think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon or any day for that matter.

We would be happy to reserve a table for you during your next visit to Burgundy. Give Justine a call or call Lola directly at Le Soleil: +33-380-20-21-02. Tell her you are a friend of La Paulée.