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Yvan Franceschi and Benoit Witz Unveil the Bistrot's Autumn Menu

10/16/2025

As the days grow shorter and the vines turn their autumnal shade of red, Lou Calen invites you to savour the new season and relax into its promise of comfort—around a table, for a delicious meal, and a shared bottle of wine. Together, chefs Benoît Witz and Yvan Franceschi have created a new autumnal menu guided by the fresh abundance of local harvest produce and new, simple flavours. Their seasonal dishes will be sincere, deeply rooted in the Provençal south and open-minded towards world cuisine.

In this new menu, bistro-gastronomy will be explored through autumnal, comforting classics: grilled leeks in vinaigrette, eggs cocotte with mushrooms and bacon, poultry pâté en croûte… these starters will evoke the liveliness of a country village table. There will be a few surprising notes that awaken the taste buds: a butternut squash velouté with coconut milk, or mini salmon and beetroot tacos… a few nods that open the palette to world cuisines, without losing the culinary foundations of the French South.
 
Then comes the main courses, where the Italian sun invites itself into the Provençal sky with a rigatoni Provençal stew and a butternut mushroom risotto. These hearty recipes pay homage to the land, while the monkfish blanquette and the sea bream fillet with seasonal vegetables offer a glance across the sea. The flavours will be bold, the sauces succulent, and the cooking precise— this is a cuisine of taste, without compromise.
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At the Bistrot restaurant, each ingredient carries its own special tale. Our butternut squash is sourced from Matthieu Faure, a market kitchen-gardener from Fox-Amphoux, who supplies freshly-picked vegetables every week; our organic eggs come from the Thomas family in Tourtour and their small-scale farm where vegetables and poultry roll together in harmony; our organic mushrooms are grown in Rougiers by William Iplikdjian with his patient and environmentally friendly expertise.
 
Further afield, in Sillans-la-Cascade, two farms embody the pastoral spirit of the region and supply our cheeses served alongside our Cotignac honey: Les Brégons Noirs, where Alpine and Provençale goats are raised, hardy but adapted to the scrubland, and Le Jas du Vignal, where two hundred ‘lacaune’ sheep feast on sorghum sown on site.
 
This close connection between producers and kitchen is central to the approach of Yvan Franceschi, who takes over the Bistrot restaurant alongside his mentor Benoît Witz. Together, they have reimagined everyday gastronomy, crafting sincere and seasonal delicacies that accurately and emotionally tell of our glorious region.

Chef Yvan Franceschi reunited with his mentor Benoît Witz in Cotignac

Originally from Aix-en-Provence, Yvan Franceschi discovered early on the joy of using his family kitchen as a culinary testing ground. At fourteen years old, he chose to make cheffing his profession and he enrolled in the prestigious training course at the CFA in Saint-Maximin, where he learned the craft, rigour and discipline needed by the great culinary establishments. At 18, Yvan crossed paths with chef Benoît Witz, then at the Abbaye de La Celle under the influence of top chef Alain Ducasse. This turned out to be a seminal encounter for Yvan – he found a mentor in Alain, whose culinary precision and human qualities he admired a great deal.

His career then progressed alongside some of the greatest names in French gastronomy: Jean-Marc Banzo at Villa Madie in Cassis, Laurent Lemal at the Hôtel Riberach in Bélesta, Philippe Saurel, whom Yvan worked with in Bandol and then in Marseille, and then finally Thierry Balligand, who entrusted him with the position of sous-chef at the Pigonnet ***** five-star restaurant in Aix-en-Provence. These varied experiences gave Yvan a fully comprehensive vision of the cooking profession, from Michelin-starred gastronomy to the most prestigious events. Yvan’s culinary expertise was further enhanced by his training at the École Lenôtre in Rungis, where he learned and honed the delicate art of crafting cocktail pieces.

Today, nearly twenty years after first meeting, Yvan Franceschi reunites with his mentor Benoît Witz at Lou Calen’s Bistrot in Cotignac.  Together, they champion a simple and essential cuisine, focused on local and seasonal products. More than a search for distinction, this is an approach that reflects a deep respect for nature, natural produce, the environment and the Provençal region. Their menu will reveal a true loyalty to the values ​​that have always brought these two fantastic chefs together.

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