R.Mana

R.Mana is the restaurant of Juliette and Carmen, two sisters from Vaux-le-Pénil who trained in catering schools and Paris restaurants. It occupies the former farm of the château of Vaux-le-Pénil, on the outskirts of Melun, where their mother used to run La Table Saint-Just: exposed stone, beams and a bright dining room. The name comes from “the sisters”, in Spanish, after their mother, who is of Spanish origin. Juliette, a pastry chef by training, learned from her father, a Michelin-starred chef; Carmen runs the dining room and Thomas, her husband, cooks with them. It is the table for a special lunch near Vaux-le-Vicomte.

The menu

A short menu that changes with the season, with fixed house dishes. Among the starters, the lobster roll with half a lobster, orange mayonnaise and home-made brioche (€30), the perfect egg cooked at 64 °C with pumpkin and chestnut (€21) or Le Tigre qui pleure, sirloin marinated with chilli, soy and coriander (€23). For mains, monkfish with piquillo cream (€32), scallops with parsnip and tonka bean (€35), duck breast (€29) or veal sweetbread with open ravioli and mushrooms (€39). There is a cheese board with Brie de Meaux and a long dessert menu, as befits a pastry chef: Grand Marnier soufflé, tiramisu-style soufflé, “Mon beau citron”, three chocolates, pistachio. They say they work the desserts with less sugar.

From Wednesday to Friday at lunchtime there is a menu from €33 that changes with the market. On Sunday they serve only brunch, at €60 per person, with three tasting dishes and a home-made buffet, by reservation only. They also have a pastry shop and takeaway food.

Opening hours, booking and getting there

Open Wednesday to Saturday, with arrivals from 12:00 to 13:30 and from 19:00 to 20:30; on Sunday, brunch with arrival from 11:30 to 12:30. Closed Monday and Tuesday. They recommend booking: do it on their website, through Zenchef, or by phone.

It has private parking. The Vaux-le-Vicomte château is, according to the restaurant itself, a few minutes by car, and they suggest it for lunch before or after the visit. Without a car, the nearest station is Melun, on line R and the RER D. The restaurant has the Tourisme & Handicap label and accepts animals if you let them know when booking.