It's a family business!

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When we say authentic, we really mean it...

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It all began in 2016 when musician/sound engineer Melvil Arnt

left France to start a new life in Music City.

Born and raised in Paris where he worked in cocktail bars and several restaurant,

his passion for wine and French cuisine led him to launch the project

of opening what was missing the most in Nashville: a true wine bar.

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His father Laurent Champonnois, born in Lyon and former TV director for 35 years, decided to fulfill

his own lifetime dream and got his degree in the best cooking school: Ferrandi Paris.

Having learnt recipes crafted from his family through past generations, he kept cooking traditional

and new French cuisine in restaurants and always dreamed of opening his own.

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It was the will of the family to reunite so Melvil's mother Valérie also joined the adventure.

Father and son decided to put their two projects together into one: Once Upon A Time In France.

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Instead of opening a wine bar or a classic restaurant, they opened what's called the friendliest, delicious and affordable, staple of the French culture:

A Bistro!