Ezia

Ezia, Montlivault — Pearl Verdict

Book Ezia if you are making a dedicated trip through the Loire Valley and want one meal that justifies the detour. With a Michelin star earned in 2024, a 4.9 Google rating across 510 reviews, and a €€€ price point that sits a tier below the great Parisian houses, this is one of the more compelling value propositions in regional French fine dining right now. The caveat: it requires planning. This is not a walk-in restaurant, and the limited lunch and dinner windows mean you need to treat booking as seriously as you would any starred room in the country.

What Has Changed — and Why It Matters

The most important thing to know about Ezia in its current form is that it is operating under new leadership. Nicolas Aubry, who served as executive chef under Christophe Hay, has taken over the restaurant and is cooking his own menu in the same space. The transition matters for two reasons. First, the physical room , a modern, considered space with a direct sightline into the kitchen , has been kept intact, so the atmosphere that previous guests valued is unchanged. Second, Aubry is not starting from scratch: his cooking has roots in the same Loire-focused, produce-led philosophy that defined the restaurant before, but the expression is now distinctly his own.

The Michelin inspectors confirmed the star under his tenure in 2024, which is the clearest signal available that the transition has been handled well. For the explorer-minded diner who follows chefs rather than just addresses, this is the right moment to visit , early in a chef's tenure at a starred address, before the wider public catches up.

The Format and the Room

Ezia operates on single set menus built around the seasons and Loire-region produce. There is no à la carte option, which means you are committing to the chef's sequence for the sitting. For the right diner , someone who comes curious and open , this is a feature, not a limitation. The kitchen's view from the dining room gives the meal a transparent, unstuffy quality that distinguishes it from the more formal Parisian starred rooms. The atmosphere reads as focused rather than hushed, modern rather than grand.

Noise level is conversational throughout service. The format , set menu, timed sittings , keeps the room from becoming chaotic, and the dinner sittings in particular (7 PM to 9 PM Tuesday through Saturday) offer an unhurried pace. Lunch (noon to 1:30 PM, same days) is tighter on time but works well if you are driving through the region and want to build a meal into an itinerary. If the choice is open, take dinner: the extra time makes the set-menu format breathe properly.

Getting There and Booking

Montlivault sits in the Loire Valley, a region better explored by car than by public transport. Ezia is at 17 Rue de Chambord , the proximity to Château de Chambord makes it a natural pairing for a day that combines cultural visits with a serious meal. For hotels and further context on the area, see our full Montlivault hotels guide.

The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday. Booking difficulty is high relative to the region. A Michelin star in a village of this size draws visitors from well beyond the Loire, and the room's capacity , not confirmed in our data, but given the kitchen-view layout, almost certainly intimate , means tables are limited. Treat this like booking a 12-to-20 cover room in a major city: aim for at least four to six weeks ahead for a weekend dinner, and check mid-week lunch slots if your schedule allows flexibility.

There is no delivery or takeout format here, and the cooking's identity , seasonal, set-menu, produce-led , does not translate off-premise. If you are drawn to Ezia's style of cooking but need something more accessible logistically, the regional starred scene offers alternatives, though none in Montlivault itself at this price tier. For the wider Loire and French regional context, see our guides to Montlivault restaurants, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Maison Lameloise in Chagny, and Bras in Laguiole , all operate in a similar produce-first, regional-identity register at comparable or higher price points.

Value Assessment

At €€€, Ezia is priced like a serious regional French table rather than a destination institution. That is the correct calibration. The starred rooms in Paris , Plénitude, Le Cinq, Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen , operate at €€€€ and carry significant overhead in the room, service infrastructure, and name recognition. Ezia offers a more direct transaction: the money goes to the cooking and the produce. For a diner whose priority is what is on the plate rather than the theatre of a grand Parisian dining room, this is a strong use of a fine dining budget in France.

Comparable starred experiences at the €€€ tier in the regions , Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern, Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse , give a sense of the competitive set. Ezia holds its own on the metrics available: the 2024 star, the near-perfect Google score, and the chef transition handled cleanly enough to retain recognition.

Who Should Book

Ezia is the right call for food-focused travellers moving through the Loire who want a meal with genuine culinary intent rather than tourist-facing comfort. It is also worth considering for anyone tracking French regional cooking at the starred level who wants to catch a chef early in an independent run. It is not the right choice if you want flexibility , no à la carte, no Sunday or Monday service, no walk-in culture, and no delivery. But if you plan ahead and commit to the format, the combination of location, value, and 2024 Michelin recognition makes it one of the more considered bookings available in this part of France.

For more on what to do around the region, see our Montlivault experiences guide, our Montlivault bars guide, and our Montlivault wineries guide. For broader French fine dining context, Arpège in Paris, Mirazur in Menton, and Troisgros in Ouches set the wider benchmark against which regional tables like Ezia are measured.

Quick reference: Ezia, 17 Rue de Chambord, Montlivault. €€€. Tue–Sat lunch noon–1:30 PM, dinner 7–9 PM. Closed Sun–Mon. Book 4–6 weeks ahead minimum. Set menu only. No delivery.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How far ahead should I book Ezia? Four to six weeks minimum for a weekend dinner; two to three weeks may work for mid-week lunch slots. The combination of a 2024 Michelin star, a small room, and only five service days per week makes this a genuinely difficult table. Do not leave it to the week before.
• Is Ezia worth the price? At €€€, yes , particularly compared to starred alternatives in Paris, where the same category runs €€€€ with more overhead built into the bill. The 2024 Michelin star and a 4.9 Google score across 510 reviews give objective backing to the quality claim. If your priority is cooking over room theatre, the value equation works in your favour.
• What should a first-timer know about Ezia? The restaurant runs a set menu only , no à la carte. The menu follows the seasons and Loire produce, so expect a sequence of dishes rather than a choice-led dinner. The room has a kitchen view, which gives it a more open, workshop feel than a traditional fine dining room. Come with curiosity about what the chef wants to cook, not a list of specific dishes you want to eat.
• Is lunch or dinner better at Ezia? Dinner. The lunch sitting runs only 90 minutes (noon to 1:30 PM), which is tight for a set-menu format at this level. The dinner window (7 PM to 9 PM) gives the meal more room to unfold. If your itinerary forces a lunch visit , for instance, a day trip from the Touraine , lunch still works, but go in knowing the pace will be brisker.
• What should I order at Ezia? There is no ordering , the kitchen runs a single set menu. Trust it. The menu is built around seasonal Loire produce and changes to reflect what is available. Nicolas Aubry's cooking is described by Michelin as subtle with strong personality, so expect dishes that reward attention rather than immediately announcing themselves.
• What are alternatives to Ezia in Montlivault? There are no direct alternatives in Montlivault itself at this tier. For similar Loire-region fine dining, look further afield. For a step up in ambition and price, Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or or Georges Blanc in Vonnas are the regional institution benchmarks. For a comparable produce-led register at €€€€, Les Prés d'Eugénie in Eugénie-les-Bains is worth considering if your route allows.
• Is Ezia good for a special occasion? Yes, with the right expectations set. The room is modern and considered rather than grand or celebratory in the traditional sense. The set-menu format creates a natural arc to the meal, which suits occasions where the dinner itself is the event. If you need a room that signals occasion through visual drama or extensive service ritual, a Parisian €€€€ house will do that more explicitly. If what matters is a serious, personal meal in a beautiful part of France, Ezia is a strong choice.