A word from Chef Bruno Ortolé

“Having lived in Villiers-Saint-Benoît for several years, I was captivated by this former coaching inn, abandoned and overgrown with vegetation. Should I accept the inevitability of the decline of rural life, or try to bring this beautiful village of Villiers-Saint-Benoît back to life?

A graduate engineer from the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, I have always been passionate about cooking. So I took my vocational training certificate as an independent candidate and completed my training at the CIFA in Yonne. I was then ready to take on the challenge: opening my own restaurant and hotel.” La Croix Blanche allows me to combine three things I love: nature, the Puisaye-Forterre region, and the hotel and restaurant industry, a field that has long appealed to me. Chef Bruno Ortolé is a member of the Yonne Chefs' Association, a Knight in the National Order of Merit, and a member of the Puisaye-Forterre Tourist Office.