Each visit to Chablis, I like to enjoy the restaurant Le Maufoux – last week, with Didier Seguier of William Fevre.

But wait, what’s this? It’s now called Mineral.

I checked, and according to Le Bien Public, its sister restaurant in Beaune must also have a name-change (Rebond):

“The news came as a devastating blow to the team at this gastronomic establishment: Le Maufoux restaurant, open (in Beaune) since April 2019, must change its name before the beginning of January. The Beaune restaurant lost its appeal against the Prosper Maufoux brand, owned by the Piffaut family”
Le Bien Public, 15 December – my translation…

Apparently, the lawyers of Prosper Maufoux took exception to the name of the restaurant, which is so obviously in competition with the ‘maison/domaine’ (partly) of that name. PM lost the first round of the case but won on appeal. The cost to the restaurant was apparently about €20k – not an insignificant sum for a small operation – though not that expensive, if it was only for two rounds of legal fees…(?)

I note with amusement that Maufoux Beaune was/is located at the address 45 rue Maufoux in Beaune. I assume that the streetname must also be changed…

This seems like a good enough reason to avoid the Château de St.Aubin in the future – but I shall keep visiting the excellent restaurants, newly named ‘Mineral’ in Beaune & Chablis…