Delphine & Christophe Dufossé, a story of dedication and passion
Delphine & Christophe Dufossé embody a people-centred, culinary and hospitality venture deeply rooted in sincerity and the local terroir.
Driven by a life-long shared passion for the renowned French ‘art de vivre’, they have created an inimitable concept in which hospitality and gastronomy come together in perfect harmony.
Christophe Dufossé
A career shaped by high standards
Born in Calais in 1968, Christophe forged an identity for himself from childhood onwards, nourished by the values of hard work, rigour and humility.
After a prestigious start to his career in a series of Michelin-starred restaurants in France and abroad, he developed a refined and full-bodied style of cooking, profoundly connected to the land and its produce.
Awarded several Michelin stars at a young age, he quickly felt the need to reach beyond technical excellence. Christophe wanted to give meaning to his cuisine, bring it closer to the land and the passing seasons, and rediscover the essence of cooking through a project in which the produce takes centre stage and nature is revered.
Delphine Dufossé
An innate sense of hospitality and attention to detail
Delphine grew up in Picardy in a family where hospitality and attention to detail were paramount.
Her career in the hotel industry, shaped by extensive experience within the Accor group, provided her with invaluable expertise in managing exclusive establishments.
It was in Mulhouse, in the world of hospitality, that she crossed paths with Christophe, marking the beginning of a strong and complementary professional and personal partnership.
A project for life and an estate in their own image
En 2021, driven by the desire to write a new chapter that better reflected who they were, the couple took over Château de Beaulieu.
Here, their joint project came into its own, creating a sustainable, authentic and deeply people-focused destination, where everyone feels at home and every shared experience is a moment to cherish.
Today, Christophe and Delphine are at the very heart and soul of the Domaine, faithful to their vision of sincere luxury, rooted in the terroir and the values they hold dear.
Ludovic Soufflet, Pastry Chef
Originally from the Pas-de-Calais, Ludovic Soufflet is a true home-grown talent. It was here that he trained as a chef, apprenticing at the Buffet de la Gare in Molinghem, just 10 minutes from Busnes, before going on to study pastry making, thus adding another string to his bow.
A prestigious establishment, first in the centre of Béthune, gave him the opportunity to remain close to his roots while receiving a first-class training. From pastry assistant to pastry chef, he progressed within an establishment that was itself undergoing change, soon moving to Busnes at the Château de Beaulieu where major renovation work was giving the place a complete facelift. From that point on, he made this establishment his own and evolved within it, eventually winning the Passion Dessert award in 2019, which recognises ever inspired and dedicated pastry-making. Through his personal development and training under some of the big names in French patisserie, including renowned pastry chefs Christophe Felder and Maxime Frédéric, Ludovic has continued to refine his signature style.
Since 2021, he has been honing his craft alongside Christophe and Delphine Dufossé. The trust and creative freedom afforded to him by the chef are an extraordinary source of motivation, not to mention the huge permaculture garden that brings inspiration to his very doorstep. With its fruit, vegetables and aromatic herbs, everything that grows at the château provides an opportunity for experimentation and, before long, sees the emergence of novel, sweet creations. This is how a rice pudding comes to be infused with asparagus, juniper berries interwoven with chocolate and peas paired with red berries.
From classic pastries, confectionery and trompe-l'oeil creations to plant-inspired dishes at the Michelin-starred restaurant and indulgent desserts at La Brasserie Côté Jardin, Ludovic brings his signature style to the Domaine's collection of venues, offering a wonderfully sensory experience. His commitment and deep attachment to Domaine de Beaulieu make him a passionate ambassador, author and composer of a confectionery world that is an integral part of the culinary identity of the Maison.
Faustine Wicquart, Head Baker
Everything happens for a reason. When you take a look at Faustine Wicquart's career path, what appears to be a career change is actually just a continuation. Faustine grew up in the Pas-de-Calais near Busnes, in a rural environment that perfectly reflected her love of nature, good food and deep-felt connection with the land. With farming grandparents and a father who grew cereal, you might say the seed was well and truly sown!
An excellent student, she studied food engineering, specialising in nutritional marketing. The syllabus covered seeds, genetics, nutrition, quality processes and product development. Although her studies were intended to make her an engineer, more familiar with computers than with the land, it is in the latter that she feels most at home. She is driven by the operational side of things, getting her hands dirty, feeling the satisfying exhaustion of physical labour and, above all, knowing she has produced something tangible.
Her first job in a farmers' shop revealed to her even more of what was by then becoming abundantly clear. What really fulfilled her was working with the produce and building relationships with the suppliers. And then, bread suddenly took centre stage. In truth, everything had been heading in that direction: her farming roots, her taste for good food and her passion for nutrition. So Faustine went back to school, and soon had her CAP (vocational training certificate) in baking, along with a professional qualification that brought her to Château de Beaulieu to complete her apprenticeship.
As an apprentice, quickly promoted to assistant baker and then head baker, Faustine has found a place and a purpose that are in complete harmony with her idea of professional fulfilment. Here, she ‘nourishes’ every moment of the day with her fresh pastries for the hotel breakfast to signature breads for the fine dining restaurant, and large loaves for sharing at the brasserie.
Committed to working with a mild sourdough starter, using locally produced stone-ground farmhouse flours, and employing long fermentation and delayed rising processes that fully develop the aromas, Faustine shapes excellence on a daily basis. She passionately and sensitively conveys her devotion to quality, beauty and craftsmanship to her team. Above all, she enjoys the stimulating challenge of creating one-off pieces, and devising breads that complement the chef's signature cuisine. At the Domaine, where she enjoys the full trust of the Dufossé couple, her creative streak finds the perfect outlet. With reciprocity, exchange and nature right outside her window, she really has struck upon the perfect equation!
Driven by a nurturing and accessible vision of baking, conscientious and passionate in her work, and uncomplicated by nature, Faustine's sensibility blends seamlessly with the identity of Domaine de Beaulieu.
Mickaël Gillioen, Head Chef
Mickaël Gillioen's trajectory is as unexpected as it is exceptional, but above all, shows that where there's a will, there's a way.
Originally from Béthune, Mickaël quickly found vocational training to be a promising alternative to traditional schooling. Inspired by his electrician father, he trained in automated mechanical systems, without necessarily seeing it as a career path. So, with diploma in hand, he next sought answers in the army, enlisting in an armoured cavalry regiment. But while the disciplined lifestyle suited him to a tee, the lack of operational action did not.
This marked the beginning of a varied career path, with Mickaël taking an interest in plastics manufacturing, paint production, industrial maintenance and the installation of glass doors. Everywhere he went, his commitment and diligence were praised. Then came the phone call that all parents dread. His daughter's poor health forced him to leave his job to become her carer. It was then that cooking became an outlet, initially at home, for the simple enjoyment of his family.
When it came time to return to work, this newly found passion naturally sparked ideas. After a brief stint at a restaurant in Ruitz, Mickaël completed an internship at a renowned establishment. The trial period was a huge success and he went on to spend three years at the brasserie as a commis chef. Self-taught, he made up for lost time by working twice as hard, learning at lightning speed and soaking up whatever came his way. His humility and passion were touching, and his work ethic remarkable. Conscientious and diligent, Mickaël, who was by then a commis chef considerably older than his peers, proved to be a pillar of strength.
So, it seemed like a natural progression for him to team up with Delphine and Christophe Dufossé when they took over Beaulieu. The chef quickly recognised this family man as a key asset for his fine dining restaurant. From then on, Mickaël's trajectory has been nothing short of stellar: it took him just three years to become head chef, overseeing the Domaine's two-Michelin-starred restaurant and La Brasserie Côté Jardin. Behind this rise to prominence lies a combination of hard work, humility and a taste for challenge. By his own admission, his personal trials have given him a sensitivity that resonates intensely in his dishes. Emotion is his mode of expression, and the beauty of Domaine de Beaulieu his inspiration. Mickaël puts the produce at the centre of everything, and while he plays with textures and contrasts, clarity is his guide. He seeks sincerity in simplicity, obscuring technique in favour of emotion.
As an attentive team leader, Mickaël understands better than anyone the importance of having a strong support structure. The team, like a family, is a source of strength he relies on. Through active listening, emulation, transmission, exchange and sharing, Mickaël continues to grow every day in his personal relationships at Domaine de Beaulieu, helping to elevate his signature cuisine to new heights. After all, where there's a will, there's a way.
Kévin GHIER, Head of Outdoor Spaces
Raised in a family where the vegetable garden dictated what was served at mealtimes, Kévin Ghier grew up with an unwitting yet innate love of nature. However, his first professional inclinations veered towards bricklaying, until later discovering horticulture at secondary school and deciding on an altogether different career path.
Trained in landscaping and then market gardening, Kevin became a gardener for a federation of municipalities in the Hauts-de-France region. For 15 years, this experience was a flurry of learning, covering soil preparation and conditioning, sowing, pruning, maintenance, and even beekeeping. Here, he came to understand the power of nature when it works in symbiosis, the mutual support between species, and the virtues of biodiversity. Every day was an incredible opportunity for progress.
It was armed with this experience that he joined Domaine de Beaulieu in 2024, first as a market gardener and then as head of outdoor spaces. Chef Dufossé's sincere commitment to vibrant, nourishing agriculture resonates with his own convictions. Here, the vegetable garden, permaculture, orchard, beehives, citrus conservatory and small farmhouse form a self-sustaining ecosystem that inspires and delights him. In his sustainable vision, nothing is wasted and everything returns to the earth. Manure from the farm enriches the soil, flowers attract insects which in turn promote pollination, and natural fertilisers and treatments nourish and nurture. As a guardian of sustainable agriculture, Kévin is committed to working with nature without ever overwhelming it, thus allowing it to produce its very best.
Buoyed by the chef's confidence, endlessly curious and always eager to try new cultivations and seed varieties, Kevin has turned the Domaine's grounds into a testing ground, with quality as his guiding light. Nothing excites him more than, every day, bringing his fresh vegetables to the kitchen and seeing the Domaine's guests enjoying this festival of flavours. While the classics are of course grown in the gardens, Kévin also enjoys experimenting with more unusual varieties such as zebra aubergines and patidoux squash. With its array of shapes, colours and tastes, nature provides a never-ending source of inspiration.
He trains his teams with an eye to respecting living things and passing on knowledge. As a collaborative manager, Kévin nurtures his employees in the same way he nurtures his produce, sharing his passion and placing his trust in the complementary skills and talents of each individual. His instinct is to strive for continuous improvement. When he is not in the estate's gardens, he continues to learn in his own vegetable garden and among his beehives.
When Stéphane joined Delphine and Christophe Dufossé at Château de Beaulieu in 2019, he returned to his roots in the Pas-de-Calais. He took charge of the dining room, under Christophe Dufossé's watchful eye, before delving deeper into the world of wine. It was truly under the impetus of Chef Dufossé that Stéphane began to seriously pursue a career as a sommelier. Initially contributing ideas for building a wine cellar in tune with the chef's vision and cuisine, he was finally appointed the Domaine's head sommelier in 2023.
Inspired throughout his career by wine luminaries, Stéphane has an immoderate taste for well-constructed wines, whether they come from prestigious labels and renowned producers, or from lesser-known artisans and up-and-coming wineries. Nothing excites him more than a passionate winemaker, a couturier of the vine, able to bottle the terroir and grape varieties in all their intensity. Talking about wine means telling a story, the story of the people and the land they work. Stéphane speaks about wine from the heart and, having learned about it later in life, above all with a heartfelt humility and a passion that speaks volumes.
And when he is not filling his personal library with books on sommellerie and oenology to continue to expand his knowledge, he can be found observing the universe through his telescope. Science and wine: a driving force towards the stars.
Paul-Henry Dufossé, Market Gardener
The youngest child of Christophe and Delphine Dufossé, Paul-Henry grew up behind the scenes at their Citadelle de Metz hotel and restaurant. And while cooking always inspired him, it was music that drew him in. Three years spent studying at the Cours Florent drama school in Paris taught him singing, composition and stage presence. His voice is suited to French variety, while his tastes lean towards pop and his curiosity is stirred by rap.
Nature, however, remains his other muse. With the family project at Domaine de Beaulieu, he has found a new outlet for his creativity: market gardening. Drawing on the knowledge of his father and the estate's gardeners, he has developed a respectful, non-interventionist approach, based on biodiversity, crop rotation, composting and companion planting.
In charge of the vegetable garden, orchard, garden and animals, Paul-Henry feeds a virtuous circle: nature provides, man assists and the kitchen draws inspiration. Working closely with the chefs, he nourishes their creations while shaping the estate's aesthetic. As its attentive guardian, he strives at all times to protect its authenticity, embodying the very heart and soul of Beaulieu.