Par
Muriel Fiez
Published on
Dec 1 2024 at 6:56 a.m.
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A new era begins for this catering professional.
She answers the phone, is contacted by the installers of her beer pumps, goes back to the phone and comes back, boosted by her project to take over the essential restaurant in the area: les ajoncs d’Or, founded by the Jumel familyin the 1960s. Meeting with Bénédicte Collat, a granddaughter from the Pays de Néant.
It’s a story that is beginning to be written for the 31-year-old young woman. In the corners of the village, behind the curtains on the windows, smiles, questions, impatience, to get to know Bénédicte, the new mistress of the place.
In immersion for 2 years
Since the age of 18, Bénédicte Collat has always worked : “In catering. I was a restaurant manager in Val-d'Oise”, a Parisian then? Yes, but “the whole family on mom’s side is from here, from Néant-sur-Yvel, where as a child, I came on vacation to my grandmother who was born there,” because this is the family of Josiane Lucas. So if Bénédicte left the Paris region for Néant two years ago, it was “to get used to local restaurants. I worked in Paimpont. Each restaurant is different with its own specificities, in the city as well as in the countryside,” relates the now young business manager.
The meal that changes everything
On a Sunday lunchtime, it's the family meal, there, at Ajoncs d'Or, “we were eight people with my grandmother and my parents”, obviously, there's talk around the table, and then the boss of the so knows Bénédicte’s family well. “Ghylaine Louapre informed us that she and her husband wanted to sell and were looking for a buyer,” but it will take the young woman a good year to digest the information. “Around June last year, I made the decision to come and speak to them to tell them the interest I had in this acquisition,” and gradually things fell into place. “Philippe and Ghylaine helped me a lot, they supported my project with the banks”, and the Ploërmel Country Initiative aid file is in progress “I will appear before the commission in a week”. Without a doubt, Bénédicte Collat has the resources to show that she is capable of holding the reins of the boutique!
A new adventure in continuity
The Gorse d'Or table, near the one where the knights are popular with tourists, has found a new lease of life. “It’s a restaurant that is known and works well. I already knew him and everyone believes in my project,” says the new head waitress. With a capacity of 80 place settingsthe place is as much “for family lunches as for tourists.” We are not going to change the menu and I am keeping the same chef Gwenaël, the same waitress Christelle.” A new face will assist the chef in the kitchen: Marion.
“I will develop the bar side with a menu of house cocktails and Breton products. I’m going to work with the Vannes brewery, La Dilettante, and for the summer, there will be a terrace,” breathes Bénédicte, rushing again to answer the phone: “hello, gorse gold, yes we open tomorrow, yes for how many people? »
However, the hotel will remain closed “while everything is put in place for the first year, while it gets its bearings. I will open it in the summer of 2025, because it is another organization,” explains the professional who underwent all the training to open the establishment.
Useful: Les Ajoncs d’Or open for lunch: Monday and Tuesday. Open in the evening from Thursday to Sunday. 02 97 93 03 88.
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