As long time readers of Our House in Provence blog know, one of our favorite villages besides Sablet is Villedieu. Its a small village (population 514), built on a hill overlooking vineyards, olive grows and pine trees near the Eygues River on the border of the Drome Provencale. Villedieu is located about 7 1/2 miles northwest of Sablet in the direction you would take if you were headed to Nyons.
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| Villedieu Cafe |
Villedieu dates back to medieval times when the village was a Commandery of the Knights Templar who owned a chateau with a single tower. The village was founded during a time when potential invaders would come around so defensive fortifications were built which you can see as you visit the village.
In the center of Villedieu is a square with a fountain, recently dry to due to the extreme drought and plane trees call Place de la Liberation. The Mairie (town hall), a cafe, a creperie, and until just before the pandemic, an excellent pizzaria called La Maison Bleue were located on the sides of the square.
During warm weather between April and October, the square becomes a grand terrace shared by the cafe and restaurants. Tables and chairs arranged around the fountain with the area for the cafe and restaurants defined by the color of chairs.
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| Villedieu Place de la Liberation |
Shortly before the start of the pandemic, our friend and chef/owner of the Maison Bleue Pizzaria sold the restaurant to chef Laurent Azoulay. He and his wife Rachel reopened the restaurant in June 2020 as the Bistrot de Villedieu.
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| Bistrot de Villedieu Server |
Chef Azoulay retained the wood burning oven of Maison Bleue and most of the food served at the Bistrot is cooked in the wood burning oven. Because of the pandemic, we had not been able to dine the new restaurant. We made up for that during our current stay by dining there twice; once at lunch by ourselves and once with friends for dinner. Menu was identical both times.
Chef Azoulay is clearly a talented chef. In addition to the Bistrot de Villedieu, Chef Azoulay owns a one star Michelin restaurant called L'Ekrin by Laurent Azoulay in the mountain town of Meribel.
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| Zucchini Blossoms |
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| Mussel Soup in Saffron with Spelt |
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| Spelt Risotto with Summer Truffles. |
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| Baked Tomato stuffed with Rice and Beef with Arugula over Rice and Beef. |
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| Apricot Crumble |
With our friends, he and I split the 1 kg Angus Beef "Cote de Boeuf" which was expensive but delicious.
The owners of the Bistrot de Villedieu split their time between the Bistrot de Villedieu and their second restaurant in the mountains so the Bistrot de Villedieu is only opened during festival season from June 1 to September 30.
The food was delicious and perfectly cooked and very attractively plated. The servers were very friendly, although service is a little slow when the square is full of diners. The only person who didn't seem to go out of his way to show any charm was the owner/chef.
Le Bistrot de Villedieu
Place de la Liberation
84110 Villedieu
France
Tel: 04 90 28 97 02
