This is the story of a typography workshop that became a bookstore, restaurant and natural wine bar. Nestled on the plateau of Vivarais-Lignon, we delight in the middle of the books that we can peck or take away. Odile Mattei, journalist and presenter of the program "Goûtez voir" fell under the spell of this place like no other, which we discover over the course of meetings...
A break is essential at L'Arbre Vagabond in Chambon-sur-Lignon, around a book and a good tasting
“The tree” for the roots and “vagabond” for freedom: a place where words circulate. Combining the pleasures of reading, wine and gastronomy was a dream that I accomplished with my son Simon.
Odile Mattei : It's a place where you take your time, there are plenty of nooks and crannies: games, a section of books on travel, poetry, gastronomy, the garden, and even a small cupboard of books erotic…
Jean-Francois: There are different atmospheres: we offer more than 10 titles: it's a real bookstore, it's a real wine bar and it's become a real restaurant.
Odile Mattei : There are words on the table with these coasters that amuse your guests, there are words from everywhere around us, but there are also some outside?
Jean-François: You are no doubt referring to the path of proverbs which brings the Occitan patois to life over 4 km: a nice link between Haute-Loire and Ardèche near the Devesset Lake.
Simon Manier, co-founder and in particular manager of the wine bar: It is pleasure that guides our choices for wine and the desire to make people discover them. They are natural wines therefore without sulfur and without chemical products, neither in the vineyards nor in the cellar. I started out alone in the kitchen, then Pierre-Marie Placide, a renowned chef in the region, was kind enough to join us.
Pierre-Marie Placide: Came here by chance and found the setting very nice. I adapted my kitchen: a bit rustic but still quite modern.
Baptiste Laine, La Boulange d'Escoussenas, which delivers artisan bread to the restaurant every week: With 3 friends from school, the artisan bakes these breads in Saint-Prix, a small village of 250 inhabitants perched high in the mountains. A bread that sustains our farmers because all the flours are organic and local.
Nicole Berna, Argaud Farm, cultivates his garden for the pleasure of lovers of tastes without artificial aromas and natural flavors: Simon improvises according to the basket that I give him at the Chambon-sur-Lignon market on Saturdays, from what the earth gives us. Lots of aromatic herbs like curry grass. Look, that's Tansy with its yellow flowers...
Simon : The chef is preparing a chocolate fondant with this herb with a strange bitter taste.
Jerome Herphelin, The Biquetterie in Chaudeyrolles : We have been organic since the beginning. Our particularity? The goats are cared for without antibiotics: mainly with homeopathy and essential oils. And it's convincing: everyone makes milk and good cheese!
Eric Garnier, the Cheyne Confectioner a stone's throw from the Vagabond Tree: It's not a job but a pleasure: I don't feel like I'm working here!
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