Our story
This story is first and foremost the story of a family: there are few establishments, in the cooking world, that can testify, at a certain level of notoriety, of four generations of presence. Each of them has sought – and found until now – its way of being both faithful and innovative: sticking to the time without denying anything of what made the specificity of this house.
The beginnings
In 1930, Jean-Baptiste and Marie Troisgros left Chalon-sur-Saône and the coffeeshop they owned there, for Roanne, where they brought the “Hotel des Platanes”, located in front of the train station. The birth of their two sons, Jean and Pierre, and the need of a more dynamic environment, undoubtedly motivated this move. Indeed, Roanne is at this time an industrial city, famous for its textile production. The Nationale 7 crossing it, it attracts new tourists heading towards the south. The house, known for its table and wine cellar, is rather prosperous and becomes the “Hôtel Moderne”.
Thanks to their local reputation, Jean-Baptiste and Marie Troisgros considered a career in the kitchen for their two sons – with already some success, starting in Paris and moving to the provinces, they learned their profession within the best houses such as Maxim’s, Lucas-Carton, and more particularly at La Pyramide, where they worked alongside Paul Bocuse, where at the end they become friends.
The second generation
In the early 1950s, Jean and Pierre started to cook for the family house. Jean-Baptiste who had a certain respect for the “truth of the product” and disliked the distortions dear to the kitchen of the time, taught to his sons these principles. Very quickly, they built a good reputation which led to their first Michelin-star in 1956. In 1962, by creating the famous Salmon with sorrel, they made people talking about them. This was the first demonstration of what became the Nouvelle Cuisine, a cuisine “for the time” codified ten years later by Henri Gault and Christian Millau – who they met in 1965, the year of their second Michelin-star. Then they will be awarded of their third in 1968.
The recognition has gone well beyond the hexagonal borders and the Roanne train station was becoming the most famous in the world. In 1976, the house made a major change by rebuilding the kitchen: it became a tool and a human space, which was almost revolutionary…
The third generation
Two years before, Michel had left Roanne for Grenoble to continue his cooking studies. Once he finished, he went to do – with Marie-Pierre who he just met – what could be described as a “culinary tour”: traditional internships, sometimes extended, in important kitchens. His specificity remains spending a lot of time abroad, more particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries, which was rare for their generation.
After almost a decade of what we could call a nomadic life, Michel feels the need to go back to his family sources. He and Marie-Pierre then returned to Roanne in 1983. This should have only been a transition but Jean’s brutal death changed the original projects. They decide to stay and find their place in the house. In 1995, they opened the Central. It is for them an opportunity to implement their ideas in a global project. The following year, Pierre and Olympe withdrew and Michel and Marie-Pierre took over as the head of Maison Troisgros – its new name. They entirely renovated the place and since, never stopped to push it forward.
In 2000, different projects were achieved. First, the CMT in Tokyo opened in 2006. Indeed, Japan has become a sort of second homeland for the Troisgros family since Pierre went there and was one of the first French Chefs to go. In 2008, Marie-Pierre and Michel imagined and opened La Colline du Colombier – a place where the warmest modernity faces the reality of the countryside. It is perhaps for this reason that, in 2013, the idea of moving away from the train station was emphasized.
The fourth generation
It is important to say also that three years earlier, an important event took place: César, the eldest son of Marie-Pierre and Michel joined the house after his “big trip” from California to Catalonia. Now, it’s Leo’s turn to finish his journey from Berlin to Japan. The question for the future, regarding everyone, was going to arise, but the best way to pass along is, without doubt, to invest in a common project. That is why, in 2014, the domain of Ouches is acquired – work began in summer 2015 for an opening of the new house at the end of winter 2017.
In 2018, the house celebrated 50 years of three-Michelin-stars.


