Montbazens, Ségala plateau
Our house
A village bar and restaurant, open since December 2020 and run by Clément Borreda and Thibaut Carles. Traditional cooking, made in house from starter to dessert, with produce from around here.
Our story
Two friends from Montbazens, who left to see something else, and came back.
L'Ardoise Occitane is the two of us: Thibaut Carles and Clément Borreda.
We grew up in Montbazens. The same schools, the same clubs, the village fête committee — and secondary school together, in Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Then we each went our own way.
Clément went into cooking: a vocational diploma, a professional certificate, and his first years at the stove at La Pastorale, in Maleville.
Thibaut went up to Paris for six years. Several brasseries, then running one on rue des Abbesses, in Montmartre. After that, a year in Brisbane, Australia, making cocktails and training bartenders.
And then one day Clément pushed the door open: the village restaurant was up for sale. Should we give it a go?
For Clément, it was the chance to strike out for good. For Thibaut, it was the moment Paris had run its course.
We came home.
The building work started in September 2020. Several months putting the place back in order, and L'Ardoise Occitane opened its doors in December 2020 — in the middle of Covid.
The start was hard. Nearly six years on, we are still here, with Guillaume, our chef, and Cybelle, our apprentice.
We cook traditional food, made in house, with produce from around here as much as we can.
And since we are from the village, we lend a hand to the associations, the fête committee and the local clubs.
That is it. Two friends who grew up here, who left to see something else, and who came back to run their village restaurant.
Welcome to our place.
The cooking
Traditional, and made in house from starter to dessert. The produce is local and from the region. The house is also a delicatessen and sells local produce.
On weekdays the set menu of the day is 16,50 € to take away and 13,90 € to eat in. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the à la carte menu takes over.
⟨to write: what "made in house" means here in practice — what is worked on site, what starts from raw produce⟩
⟨to write: the growers and makers of the canton you buy from — their names, their villages, what they supply⟩
The room, the bar, the terrace
Forty covers inside and ten on the terrace. The room is air-conditioned and there is open wifi. It is as much a village bar as a restaurant: the house opens at 7 am on weekdays.
We are on the Ségala plateau, a few kilometres from the château and the listed gardens of Bournazel.
Catering and group meals
We cook meals to order, outside of service: the firefighters' Sainte-Barbe, a birthday, an association dinner or any other event. There is no ready-made formula — we work the meal out with you, from what you want, the numbers and the date.
In the dining room too, we are glad to have clubs, sports and other associations, and groups of friends. From ten people, let us know in advance.
A meal like that is not something you order online. Give us a call and we will talk it through:
What guests say
4,7 out of 5, from 133 Google reviews
It is the highest rated of the three addresses in Montbazens.
If you had a good time with us, a word on Google really helps. Leave a review
Come and see us
We are at the heart of the Montbazens plateau, between Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Decazeville and Rodez. The village is a crossroads: people pass through on their way to the Lot valley as much as on their way down into the Aveyron.
Belcastel is fifteen minutes away by road, Villefranche-de-Rouergue twenty, Rodez thirty, Conques thirty-five. Peyrusse-le-Roc and its medieval village are just up the road: enough to have lunch with us before or after the visit, or to stop on the way.
36 avenue du Ségala, 12220 Montbazens
See the menu