The Oscar-winning actor is said to be preparing to open the eaterie near the Provençal estate where his family have established their home in France.
George Clooney is reportedly preparing to swap Hollywood for hospitality by opening an Italian restaurant in the south of France months after becoming a French citizen with his wife and children.
The 65-year-old Ocean’s Eleven star is said to be planning the restaurant in the Provençal village of Cotignac, near the Domaine du Canadel estate outside Brignoles where he lives with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, 48, and their nine-year-old twins Ella and Alexander.
The Daily Mail also reported the venue is expected to open in spring 2027, with George working on the project with Canadian entrepreneur Graham Porter, the owner of the nearby Lou Calen hotel.
George previously explained why his family had increasingly made France their home, telling Esquire: “We live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it.
“But now, for them, it’s like – they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.
“I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France – they kind of don’t give a s*** about fame…
“I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”
The proposed restaurant will occupy the former Les 3 Marches premises in Cotignac, with renovation work reportedly under way. Details including its name, chef and menu have yet to be announced.
Cotignac mayor Jean-Pierre Véran has confirmed George’s involvement in the project, although The Times reported no formal plans had yet been submitted and the actor’s name did not appear on municipal paperwork.
The restaurant would place George’s latest venture close to the family’s French home. George and Amal bought Domaine du Canadel, a former wine estate near Brignoles in the Var, in 2021.
George, Amal, Ella and Alexander officially became French citizens in December 2025, with their naturalisation recorded in France’s Journal Officiel.
The family have cited privacy, particularly protections surrounding children, as one of the attractions of living in France.
The restaurant also brings together George’s French home life and his longstanding connection to Italy.
He has owned Villa Oleandra on Lake Como since 2002 and has spent more than two decades regularly living in Italy, while Italian food has long been part of his family life.
George said in 2020: “My wife makes reservations for dinner… so I do a lot of the cooking in the family.”
He has also previously said: “I’m a pretty decent chef myself. I make a nice pasta because I spend time in Italy.”
Food featured in George and Amal’s relationship before their marriage. George cooked dinner when he proposed at home in 2014, later joking that the meal had been “pasta of some form”.
The couple married later that year in Venice, the Italian city with which George has maintained a particularly close association throughout his career.
That relationship was celebrated again last month when George returned to the Venice International Film Festival to receive its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Accepting the honour, he said: “I’ve had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honor. It also probably means I’m old, but I’ll take it”.
The award recognised a film and television career spanning more than four decades.
George first became an international star playing Dr Doug Ross in ER before becoming one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men through films including Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, Michael Clayton, Up in the Air and The Descendants.
He won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for Syriana and received acting, directing and writing Oscar nominations during a career that also includes Good Night, and Good Luck, The Ides of March and The Monuments Men.
George’s most recent major screen role was in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, alongside Adam Sandler, 60, and Laura Dern, 59. The film premiered at Venice in 2025, with George playing an ageing Hollywood star confronting his life and career.
George Clooney ‘planning to open Italian restaurant in France’
