Hollywood A-lister George Clooney may have shifted his Italian lifestyle after two decades, moving from his primary European sanctuary, Villa Oleandra on Lake Como, to France, but he certainly didn’t leave without his gnocchi. The 65-year-old actor, businessman, and philanthropist who resides in the 425-acre Domaine du Canadel estate with his wife, Amal, and twins, Ella and Alexander, is about to open an Italian fine dining restaurant in Cotignac, in the heart of Provence.
This high-end dining venture solidifies the actor’s French lifestyle, who has now become a French citizen along with his wife and their children. The Ocean’s Eleven actor is bringing a slice of Italian decadence to the French village by collaborating with Graham Porter, a Canadian businessman who owns the nearby Hôtel Lou Calen, according to Riviera Radio. With this move, the former neighborhood pizzeria, formerly known as Les 3 Marches, will metamorphose into an upscale Italian restaurant, going from serving wood-fired pizzas and meat dishes at relatively affordable prices to delivering top-notch Italian delicacies that will certainly not be as cheap.
With a generous drizzle of the celebrity quotient, one can expect this to become a considerably more expensive establishment, serving a properly made plate of pasta. And who better than Clooney to be a judge of that? After living on Lake Como for years, Clooney relied on Italian chef Viviana Frizzi, a Lake Como native who began cooking for him in 2013 before he married Amal. The man who cannot cook to save his life was so impressed with Frizzi’s cooking, particularly her risotto and handmade pesto gnocchi, that he hired her as his private chef. So for most of his Lake Como life, Clooney has been devouring gnocchi so good that he admitted the lipsmacking dish would make him cry.
The philanthropist will now share that same feeling of culinary delight with the locals and tourists of Provence. Italian heartiness served with a side of Cours Gambetta, Cotignac’s central thoroughfare, tree-lined terraces, stone buildings, pedestrian activity, and an immense limestone and tufa cliff towering over the village will make this a very buzzing dining destination. While Clooney made a great deal of money through the sale of his tequila brand, Casamigos, in a deal worth up to $1 billion, this is his first restaurant venture in Cotignac, a town with just over 2000 inhabitants.
The new restaurant is scheduled to open in spring 2027 at 11 Cours Gambetta. No further details about the restaurant have been divulged, but it has already got people excited, including the mayor of Cotignac, Jean-Pierre Véran, as reported by newspaper Nice-Matin. Pizzas, pasta, Provence. Péché mignon!
