Restaurant in Hasparren, France
One tasting menu. Book well ahead.
La Maison de Pierre earned a Michelin star in 2024 for a surprise tasting menu rooted in Basque Country produce, delivered by chef Nicolas Montceau and pastry chef Julien Bonnal inside a historic pelota-ground building in Hasparren. At the €€€ tier with a 4.8 Google rating, it is one of southwest France's most compelling cases for a detour. Book four to six weeks out — tables fill fast.
La Maison de Pierre runs a multi-course surprise tasting menu with no à la carte option, a half-timbered dining room inside a Basque Country village hotel, and a kitchen led by a duo — chef Nicolas Montceau and pastry chef Julien Bonnal — who Michelin awarded a star in 2024. The catch: the restaurant is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, opens only during lunch and dinner service windows (12:30–2 PM and 8–10 PM), and sits inside a small hotel in Hasparren, a village most visitors drive through rather than to. Seats here are finite, the schedule is tight, and demand from Basque food travellers has grown since the star landed. If you are planning a trip around this dinner, book first and build the itinerary second.
The room itself carries the weight of place: the building was once a Basque pelota ground, and the reception still has the original ticket windows and a glass panel opening onto the trinquet court. The half-timbered facade wears the region's red and white. This is not a generic hotel restaurant , it is a room with a specific history, and the kitchen team has leaned into that rather than away from it. The atmosphere during service is focused without being formal. If you sit facing the open kitchen, which the team encourages, the energy is closer to performance than production , intentional, disciplined, and unhurried, even when the room is full. The noise level is low enough for conversation; this is not a venue for a loud group night out.
The cooking philosophy is hyperlocal. Montceau and Bonnal source from the Basque Country's immediate agricultural and fishing networks, and the tasting menu , structured in several sequences , does not telegraph what is coming. That is the point. Harmonious flavour combinations, house-made jus and sauces, and Bonnal's pastry precision drive each plate, with plating treated as a craft in its own right. For a food and wine explorer visiting the Basque interior, this is exactly the format that rewards the detour: a complete editorial meal rather than a collection of individual dishes.
Editorial angle here matters for wine-focused travellers. The Basque Country produces Txakoli , the high-acid, low-alcohol white that pairs with seafood , and the broader Pyrénées-Atlantiques department sits adjacent to Jurançon and Irouléguy appellations, two of France's more obscure but genuinely compelling wine regions. Irouléguy in particular, produced from the local Cabernet Franc-driven blends and Tannat, is almost impossible to find outside the region. A tasting menu at a one-Michelin-star kitchen in this geography, committed to local sourcing, is the logical place to encounter these wines in a pairing context rather than as an afterthought. The database does not confirm a specific sommelier programme or wine list depth, but the kitchen's stated commitment to local produce makes it reasonable to expect regional wine representation. If wine pairing matters to your decision, contact the restaurant directly to confirm the offer before booking. What is confirmed: the food-first philosophy and the local sourcing brief align with the kind of kitchen that takes terroir seriously on the glass as much as the plate.
For context on how regional tasting menus elsewhere in France handle wine depth, look at venues like Bras in Laguiole or Les Prés d'Eugénie - Michel Guérard in Eugénie-les-Bains , both operate in similarly rooted regional contexts where the wine list is an extension of the kitchen's sourcing logic, not a generic French cellar. La Maison de Pierre reads as operating in that same tradition, even at a smaller scale.
Hard booking difficulty is the accurate classification here. This is a village restaurant with a limited weekly schedule , five service days, two sittings per day , and a Michelin star that arrived in 2024. Tables for weekend dinner will be the first to disappear. The practical advice: book four to six weeks out for a Saturday dinner booking, and do not assume midweek flexibility given the Tuesday-Wednesday closure. Lunch on a Thursday or Friday is your leading bet for a shorter booking window, and it delivers the same menu. The hotel , Hôtel Berria , offers rooms on site, which makes an overnight stay the cleanest way to handle the logistics of a destination dinner in a village this far from a major transport hub.
Hasparren is a 25-minute drive from Bayonne, the nearest city with rail connections. If you are building a Basque Country food trip, Elizaberriko Etxeberria is the other Hasparren address worth knowing. For the broader regional picture, consult our full Hasparren restaurants guide, and if you are planning accommodation, our full Hasparren hotels guide covers the options. For a wider Basque Country itinerary that connects tasting menu dining with wine and regional experiences, our full Hasparren wineries guide and our full Hasparren experiences guide are useful starting points.
At the €€€ price tier with a Michelin star awarded in 2024 and a Google rating of 4.8 across 481 reviews, La Maison de Pierre represents the kind of value that destination dining rarely delivers. You are not paying Paris prices for Paris-level ambition , you are paying regional prices for a kitchen operating at a level that has attracted national recognition. The surprise tasting menu format means you are committing to the chef's vision, which suits explorers and rewards trust. If you need à la carte flexibility or prefer a city base, this is not your venue. If you are willing to drive into the Basque interior, stay the night, and hand control to a duo who have earned their star, this is one of the more compelling cases for a detour in southwest France.
For reference on the broader category of destination dining at this tier in France, venues like Flocons de Sel in Megève and Maison Lameloise in Chagny offer a useful comparison: regional anchors with serious kitchens and hotel rooms attached, where the detour is the point. La Maison de Pierre fits that category. Other French tasting menu references worth benchmarking against for context include Mirazur in Menton, Arpège in Paris, and Troisgros - Le Bois sans Feuilles in Ouches , though all operate at higher price tiers. For a village-scale experience with comparable regional integrity, La Maison de Pierre is harder to match in this part of France.
Quick reference: €€€ price tier | Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Google 4.8 / 481 reviews | Closed Tuesday-Wednesday | Lunch 12:30–2 PM, Dinner 8–10 PM | Hôtel Berria, Hasparren | Hard to book
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Maison de Pierre | Modern Cuisine | Here in the centre of the village, this duo, whose enthusiasm is infectious, have set up shop in a half-timbered building that sports the Basque Country's characteristic red and white. It was once a Basque pelota ground (the reception still has the old ticket windows and a glass door opening onto the trinquet). Chef Nicolas Montceau and his pastry chef partner Julien Bonnal, who is also in charge of plating up the dishes, swear by local produce. Their multi-course surprise tasting menu in several sequences is a delight, rife with harmonious combinations of flavours, delicious jus and sauces, and an abundance of creativity. Don't hesitate to ask for a table facing the open kitchen so you can enjoy the show! Comfortable guestrooms.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| Plénitude | Contemporary French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | French, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kei | Contemporary French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Hasparren for this tier.
Book at least four to six weeks out, especially for weekend evenings. The restaurant runs only five service days per week with two sittings per day, which means a small number of covers in total. If you're travelling specifically for this meal, lock in the reservation before you book transport or accommodation.
There is no menu choice to make: La Maison de Pierre serves a multi-course surprise tasting menu only. The format is fixed, driven by local Basque produce, and designed around harmonious flavour combinations according to the Michelin guide citation. Ask for a table facing the open kitchen when you book — it adds context to the meal.
Yes, provided the tasting menu format suits your group. A Michelin star awarded in 2024, a €€€ price tier, and a setting inside a historic half-timbered pelota ground give the evening a clear sense of occasion. It works best for two or a small group comfortable with a fixed, surprise menu rather than individual ordering.
The kitchen runs a surprise tasting menu with no à la carte alternative, so come prepared for a multi-course commitment. The restaurant is inside Hôtel Berria at 68 Rue Francis Jammes in Hasparren, a small Basque village — not a city dining destination. Tuesday and Wednesday are closed. If dietary restrictions apply, contact the restaurant in advance.
Both services run the same tasting menu format, so the deciding factor is practical. Lunch (12:30–2pm) works well if you're touring the Basque Country and want to cover ground afterwards. Dinner (8–10pm) suits a stay at the attached Hôtel Berria, removing any time pressure. Neither sitting has a structural advantage over the other.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
