Luxembourg's La Villa de Camille et Julien has become the country's first Michelin-starred restaurant to offer home delivery, marking the latest reinvention for a business that opened on the eve of the Covid pandemic and was put up for sale less than two years ago.
Chef Julien Lucas and his wife and business partner, Camille Tardif, said the new service was a response to changing habits rather than a departure from fine dining.
"We have no choice: we have to adapt", Lucas said. "If we do not adapt and we feel sorry for ourselves, we do not move forward. We can always complain, oppose everything or never be satisfied. We adapt."
The couple began developing the delivery concept around a year before its launch. Early work included testing recipes, sourcing made-to-measure packaging, and determining which dishes could survive a journey without losing the quality associated with the restaurant.
Lunch services had become particularly challenging, Lucas said, as reduced purchasing power combined with changing priorities and shorter breaks.
"People may want to go to the gym at lunchtime, so they have less time to eat", he said. "We asked ourselves how we could meet that demand while still providing quality – a way of eating quickly, but with quality."
The range is built around the "Croustis" – an elongated case of firm puff pastry that would put any shortbread to shame, filled with a selection of cold savoury and sweet fillings and toppings.
A standout is the "Croustidog", a play on a hot dog made from a Luxembourg sausage, combining a local ingredient with what Lucas described as a more playful and accessible format. The packaging was designed specifically to keep the food in place during delivery.
"The box is adapted to it: the Crousti fits inside and is held securely", he said. "Obviously, if the courier does a wheelie on the bicycle, it could get complicated, but generally there is no problem."
Not every restaurant dish is suited to delivery, but Lucas said most ideas could be adapted. The regular Crousti range is intended to be eaten cold and requires no preparation by the customer.
More elaborate, limited-edition dishes are also planned for occasions such as Christmas and Valentine's Day, as well as during game season. One possible offering is Lucas' signature hare à la royale, the classic French dish for which he previously won a world championship title.
The hare, sauce, and purée would be delivered separately in vacuum-sealed packaging, with simple reheating and plating instructions.
"Within 10 or 15 minutes, it can be plated and you have the same dish that was served here", Lucas said. "Even someone who really does not know how to cook can do it."
The restaurant began testing a takeaway range on Foozo in July before expanding its delivery offer through Wolt. Initial volumes on the new platform remained modest at the time of the interview, but the couple said the earlier service had already generated several hundred orders and encouraging feedback in the span of a month.
The project carries comparatively little financial risk because the food is prepared in the restaurant's existing kitchen, principally during quieter periods. If demand rises substantially, however, the couple could recruit additional staff or consider opening a pop-up outlet.
"For once, it is a project where we have no pressure, because we have made no investment", Lucas said. "We do it and we see where it takes us."
Tardif said the service should not be viewed as a financial cure-all. Selling enough items to transform the restaurant's finances would require considerable daily volumes. Instead, delivery represents an additional source of revenue, a means of reaching new customers, and an opportunity to reconsider how fine dining fits into contemporary life.
"It is not the Croustis that will keep us alive tomorrow – that is the reality", she said. "But it is an avenue for development and communication. It is a way of reinventing ourselves and rethinking our profession for the future."
That determination marks a striking change from January 2025, when La Villa de Camille et Julien was listed for sale.
At the time, Lucas described empty services, recruitment difficulties, and a lack of recognition despite the Michelin star. The couple had opened the restaurant in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and earned its star two years later.
Tardif said the decision to sell emerged from those difficult beginnings, wider changes in consumer behaviour, and an opportunity to pursue a project in Normandy, where she is originally from.
"We bought the restaurant at the dawn of Covid – we signed just one week before", she said. "We spent the first lockdown getting ready to open, only to close again six months later. The beginnings were very, very difficult."
Now, the restaurant is no longer for sale.
Customers had told the couple they were saddened by the prospect of La Villa closing, while support from employees, new members of staff, and business partners helped restore their confidence. Their two young daughters are also growing up in Luxembourg, attending local schools.
"We realised that there was real support and a desire for us to stay, to be rooted in this country and to help its gastronomy shine", Lucas said. "That warmed our hearts."
Tardif said the couple gradually began to see reasons to remain, from new staff and winemaking partnerships to changes in the surrounding Pulvermühl neighbourhood. Construction works have severely affected the restaurant, she said, contributing to a fall in turnover of around 60% since June of the previous year.
But the redevelopment is also expected to bring a larger car park and improve access in the longer term.
"There are two ways of looking at the works", she said. "We can say that it is hard – and that is a reality – or we can tell ourselves to hold on, because in two or three years, perhaps sooner, it will be better."
La Villa's expansion also comes as Luxembourg's food-delivery sector faces growing political and regulatory scrutiny.
The Inspectorate of Labour and Mines is examining working arrangements in the platform economy, including companies that supply couriers to delivery services such as Wolt. Concerns have focused on possible bogus self-employment and on drivers working exclusively for a platform without direct employment or adequate social-security coverage.
Labour Minister Marc Spautz has previously stated that workers "at the bottom of the chain" must not be exploited and that the government does not want to "legalise a grey or black labour market".
The government is working with unions and employers on a clearer framework for platform work as Luxembourg prepares to implement the EU Platform Work Directive. A bill is expected to be submitted around the beginning of November, with the authorities aiming to complete the legislative process before the end of the year.
Spautz has acknowledged that some couriers value the flexibility of platform work, but said that flexibility cannot come at the cost of basic employment protections or create unfair competition.
For Lucas and Tardif, delivery remains an experiment – but one consistent with a philosophy forged through six turbulent years in Luxembourg.
"You have to be resilient and know how to bounce back", Lucas said. "Today, that is important."
