Chez Colette
Bar · Restaurant · Tapas
Chauvigny · Vienne · France
Push the door open. We walk you through a day at our restaurant in Chauvigny, at the foot of the medieval town, from the morning market to the last round.
8:00 · Market day
Market mornings
Chauvigny market fills the town every Saturday morning, one of the largest in the Vienne. We open at 8:00: the coffee before the shopping, the break after, and somewhere to set the bags down.
No set lunch on Saturday: the kitchen switches to tapas from 11:00, small plates to pick at rather than a choice between starter and main. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the market comes back smaller, the food one with local growers - we open anyway, at 9:30.
12:00 · The lunch service
At noon, we keep it swift
No sprawling menu. One set lunch, starter - main - dessert, dictated by the morning market. Served fast, never rushed.
Last week's menu ·
The market decides, the menu follows. What we find in the morning ends up on the plate, never quite the same two days running. These examples set the tone, not the day's menu.
19:00 · As evening falls
Welcome, make yourself at home
In the evening, we slow down. We welcome you like family: a room that blends old and new, offbeat just enough, tables to linger at and no one to rush you.
More often than not it is Matthieu, the owner, who seats you.
When the weather is kind, the terrace opens onto the street. Not a secret garden, but the best seat for a drink in the sun and watching Chauvigny go by.
19:30 · The first round
Time for a drink
We start with a drink, carefully chosen. Time to settle in before sitting down to eat.
Wines
A fine list, growers we love, by the glass or the bottle. A Morgon, a Vacqueyras, a Pic Saint-Loup, a Cahors.
Beers
Good draught beer, pulled with care: Affligem blonde, La Chouffe. And a few chosen bottles.
Cocktails
Well-made classics and a few house ideas, until late. Moscow Mule, Hugo spritz, limoncello spritz.
Mocktails
Alcohol-free, but not character-free. No one goes thirsty.
The wall of bottles is part of the decor: pick your bottle, your draught, let us guide you. The cocktails and mocktails come straight from Matthieu's hands, behind the bar.
20:00 · At the centre of the table
Small plates to share
In the evening, it is tapas time. Sharing is the whole point: crafted small plates that parade across the middle of the table, that you pick at together and order again without counting. You do not come to eat each in your corner: you come to share a moment, and it starts on the plate.
What has been up on the board, just to set the tone: a burrata with roasted peach, a truffle croque, a mortadella and pistachio pinsa, a mixed board with truffled ham, gratinated oysters when they are in season. The menu turns over fast: it may well be something else entirely the evening you walk in.
21:30 · The nightcap
We linger
The kitchen closes at 9.30pm, the mood does not: we carry on at the counter. Themed nights, big matches, happy hour, a hum of music and time slipping by.
An events page is on its way: the nights coming up, the matches on the screen, the happy hour windows, what we line up on the music side. Alive, updated week by week. We have no shortage of ideas, and one wish behind them all: making Chez Colette a proper local haunt, the place you drop into unannounced because something is always going on. An idea for a night to suggest? .
22:00 · Takeaway
And if Colette came to you?
The evening does not stop at the door. We pack it up, you head home: all that is left is setting the table.
The idea is simple: what comes out of the kitchen can go out in a box. The set lunch when the break is too short to sit down, the boards and the evening plates when you fancy a proper dinner but not the cooking. We get it ready while you finish your day, you swing by to pick it up, and dinner is sorted.
22:15 · A word from the owner
Colette's restaurant
Colette is a grandmother's name. The one whose kitchen smelled good, whose door opened without warning and whose table always stretched for one more.
Here, we pay tribute to her. To her and to all the old folk: the taste for good things, the sense of sharing, and that very French idea that we know how to welcome.
At the helm, Matthieu, the owner: in the room to welcome you, behind the bar for the cocktails and mocktails. In the kitchen, a real chef: cooking that is simple but crafted, local produce picked fresh, and the urge to surprise as the seasons turn.
Yesterday's tradition, today's table. Gestures that come from afar, an execution of our time. Just like home, but we do the dishes.
Le bar restaurant L'Imprévu devient Chez Colette à Chauvigny
22:30 · See you soon
We will keep you a table
A table for tonight, or to celebrate something? It happens in person with Matthieu, the owner: one call, and he keeps you the best seat.
Book on the phone
And what if, before calling, the answer was already here?
Are you open on market mornings?
Yes, and early: 8:00 on Saturday for the big Chauvigny market, 9:30 on Tuesday and Thursday for the growers' market. A coffee before the shopping, a break after, and tapas from 11:00 on Saturday.
How does lunch work?
One set lunch, starter-main-dessert, no menu: whatever the market gave that morning, never quite the same two days running. Nothing rigid though - an allergy, a diet, a table of colleagues or a working lunch, and we adapt.
In the evening, is it a classic restaurant?
No, and that is on purpose. You do not come to dine on a plate of your own: you come to share small plates that parade across the middle of the table. You pick, you order again, you linger. And we promise: no one leaves hungry, or thirsty.
Do you do takeaway?
Yes. The set lunch and the evening boards travel: we get it ready, you swing by to pick it up. Catering and receptions will come later.
Do I need to book?
Recommended, especially at weekends. Booking happens on the phone, in person with Matthieu on the phone - online booking is coming soon.
