French restaurant interior elegance
ASHEVILLE – A downtown restaurant is up for sale as an Asheville chef winds down after a 51-year culinary career. Chef Michel Baudouin has announced his intention to sell the French comfort food eatery, Bouchon, ahead of its 20th anniversary, Oct. 5, 2025. Bouchon opened at 62 North Lexington Ave. in 2005.
Baudouin said although his priorities have shifted he isn’t ready to “fully retire” from the service industry. Baudouin, one of the founding members of the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, owns the farm-to-table French restaurant, RendezVous at 184 New Haw Creek Road.
“RendezVous is not going anywhere in the near future. I’m slowing down but I cannot quit cold turkey,” said Baudouin, who was raised on a farm near Lyon, France and has worked in the restaurant industry since he was age 16.
The restaurateur said he decided to sell Bouchon to slow down to give his body and mind a well-needed break and spend time with family, including his grandchildren. Baudouin said he is seeking a “worthy” buyer of the restaurant that has survived hardships, including a building collapse, expansion, contraction and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In business, it goes up and down for several different reasons,” he said. “My wife named it ‘the little restaurant that could’ because of its size. You don’t have to do a lot of volume to be successful in the space of Bouchon, so we were able to survive the ups and downs easier because of that.”
He said Bouchon is 2,400 square feet total ― 1,200 square feet upstairs and downstairs. Baudouin said Bouchon employs more than 20 full- and part-time workers who were notified months ago.
“I’m the one who’s been dragging my feet and making up my mind,” Baudouin said. “It’s not an easy decision because Bouchon has been good to us.” He said RendezVous, which opened in 2019, will remain open and staff members at Bouchon are welcome to join the sister restaurant. Employees may receive assistance finding new employment.
Baudouin said he’s seeking a buyer who will continue the business as Bouchon or introduce a new establishment. There is no timeline for the restaurant to be sold.
“This is not a fire sale. I don’t expect that it would happen tomorrow. I’m just not going to sell it just to anybody either,” Baudouin said. “Ideally, I would like to find maybe somebody who wants to start their own business, and this is a way that it can be affordable to do or continue with the concept.”
Parties interested in purchasing Bouchon may contact Carla Barnard at carla@carla-co.com.
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