One of the world’s premiere dining destinations for fine wine is staying in its founders’ hands. The Cariot family has announced that they are no longer selling Bleu Provence, their celebrated Grand Award-winning French restaurant and wine program in Naples, Fla. This summer, the family had agreed to sell the restaurant to the Hoffmann Family of Companies, owned by billionaire real estate and business mogul David Hoffmann, but the deal is off for now.
“A restaurant is like a big boat,” owner Jacques Cariot told Wine Spectator. “In water, you cannot just turn 90 degrees. Changes slowly take time.”
The agreement had included the restaurant in downtown Naples and the Cariot’s 60,000-bottle wine cellar, with over 5,000 selections. The Hoffmann Family of Companies plans included redeveloping a part of the restaurant into a private club, showcasing the strength of the wine program. But the firm had also pledged not to change much of what diners have loved about Bleu Provence since it opened in 1999, like the iconic cobalt blue and white exterior or the fresh takes on Southern French cooking.
Cariot was concerned, however. “I was afraid that they wouldn’t keep the culture, even though he was very willing to do so,” said Cariot. “He has a lot to take care of, and I was afraid that this was not a priority. For me, it was more important to keep this business going the way we want it to go.”
While the restaurant will remain in family hands, Jacques and his wife, Lysielle, who serves as head chef, hope to step away more so that they can focus on other projects, including a family farm just 45 minutes outside of Naples. The farm, named “the Sanctuary,” is filled with vegetable gardens, fruit trees and flocks of turkeys and chickens. They plan to build a shed for cows and goats so they can make their own cheese (“We’re French, we can’t help it.”) The hope is that eventually Bleu Provence’s daily specials will be entirely made from the farm’s produce.
With Jacques and Lysielle spending more time at the Sanctuary, their sons Clément and Kevin will spend more time on the floor and take responsibility for the restaurant. Clément currently manages and helps to curate the wine cellar; Kevin is the restaurant’s general manager.
Cariot noted that the deal did not end on any hard feelings or animosity. “I have known David Hoffmann for years, he’s a very nice gentleman, and he was bringing so much excitement and energy into the restaurant,” explained Cariot. “But we wanted to step back and walk away from the deal. Recenter on the family.”
Contacted by Wine Spectator, David Hoffmann wrote in a statement, “We are still in discussions. We went out of contract pending [another] sale and will revisit if and when that closes.”
