By Julien Lagarde
Published on
May 9, 24 at 8:20 p.m.
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A page is turning at La Coupe d’Or, in Lisieux (Calvados). At the head of the Pont-Mortain hotel-restaurant for 14 years, Manuela and Nicolas Katis passed the torch to Julien Bazil, former boss of the Le Seven nightclub in Deauville.
The sale was made official on April 22, 2024. “We felt the need to change, to start on a new project. This adventure has been great. Some clients came three times a week, we saw them more often than our relatives. We lived upstairs for eight years, two of our three children were born here, there will remain a very strong attachment to this establishment” explains the couple, originally from L’Aigle (Orne).
“We allow ourselves a little break”
In 2010, after working in hotel groups and running a brasserie, Manuela and Nicolas Katis fell in love with La Coupe d’Or. A structure on a human scale, in a medium-sized town, right in the city center… The deal ticked all the boxes. “Basically, we thought we would stay seven years. Finally, we did two seven-year cycles, with important work in between,” they emphasize.
The restaurant has 35 seats and the hotel has 15 rooms (3 stars). The couple managed to maintain the good reputation of the establishment for 14 years. What will they do next? Nothing is decided. “We allow ourselves a little break of two or three months, with the children. The job is intense, very demanding. It’s weird being home at night, together. We know what we want to do and not do anymore.”
“Why change? »
Their successor discovered restoration. A true jack-of-all-trades, Julien Bazil has training as an engineer specializing in mathematics applied to finance.
Born in Évreux (Eure), educated from 4th to 12th grade in L’Aigle (Orne), then studying math sup-math spé in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) and at the central school of Marseille (Bouches-du- Rhône), he worked for six years at BNP Paribas in Paris, before running a nightclub in Deauville with his brother for ten years. “I also have companies in real estate and in the purchase and sale of cars. And I’m getting my airplane pilot’s license,” smiles the person concerned.
Very close to buying a hotel in Honfleur, Julien Bazil finally set his sights on La Coupe d’Or, in Lisieux. “When I saw the team, the quality of the cuisine, the establishment, the location, the figures… I said banco”. But he doesn’t arrive in unknown land either. “My paternal grandparents were Lexovians,” explains the man whose maternal grandfather was mayor of Beaumont-en-Auge for around thirty years.
Julien Bazil does not intend to revolutionize the way La Coupe d’Or operates. He keeps the same team of nine people, the same kitchen, the same menus, the same prices, the same suppliers… “When it works, why change? » Even the pianist doesn’t move. Jean-José Lelièvre comes to play once a month. The next evening will take place on May 25.
Hotel-restaurant La Coupe d’Or, 49 rue du Pont-Mortain, in Lisieux. Such. 02 31 31 16 84.
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