Hummingbirds, Butterflies, and Wine

Colibri Wine Bar opens at Commongrounds

By Ross Boissoneau | June 6, 2026

The buzz in Traverse City is that the hummingbird has come home to roost this June.

Guillaume Hazaël-Massieux’s popular Bistro Fou Fou on Cass Street closed its doors in 2019, where you can still see the iconic hummingbird mural painted on an exterior wall. But he’s partnered with Bastien Le Guen on a new concept: Colibri Wine Bar, opening June 11 in the former NoBo Riverside restaurant location.

The new establishment in the Commongrounds Building doesn’t just share ownership with its forebearer—the wine bar also recalls Fou Fou’s mascot. “Foufou” is the local name for the Antillean Crested Hummingbird, one of the most common hummingbird species in the French Caribbean. (Hazaël-Massieux was born in Paris but grew up on the French island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.) Now Colibri (the Spanish, French, and Italian word for hummingbird) showcases hummingbirds throughout the premises.

Not coincidentally, Hazaël-Massieux also owns La Bécasse (The Woodcock) near Glen Lake.

The name is special to Le Guen as well. “Colibri is an homage to my grandmother and mother,” he says. “I discovered hummingbirds in Guadeloupe in the early 2000s with her and my parents, and since then always attached this bird to her. Guillaume is from Guadeloupe, so the name just made perfect sense to both of us!”

The hummingbird is not the only winged patron for Colibri. Le Guen’s mother recently passed away, and before she died she told her grandchildren she would become a butterfly. Among the investors at Colibri are patrons of the nonprofit St. Clair Butterfly Foundation. “So we decided to include a few butterflies in the painting on the wall. Now I’ll think of my mom everyday looking at them,” says Le Guen.

Meet the Team

Hazaël-Massieux boasts a rich background in the restaurant business, from his native country to the Caribbean to his adopted home state of Michigan and two decades of success at La Bécasse. He graduated from École des Arts Culinaires et de l’hotellerie in Lyon, France (now known as L’Institut Paul Bocuse).

He moved to Michigan in 1996 and began working in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand. Hazaël-Massieux then moved on to Steelcase Corporation as executive dining room chef, hosting dinners for Steelcase customers. In 2001, he began working as executive chef at Restaurant Toulouse, a French bistro in Saugatuck.

In the winter of 2004, Guillaime and his wife Brooke heard that owners Peachy and John Rentenbach were looking to sell La Bécasse, their quaint French country restaurant in Burdickville. They were familiar with the area from visiting Brooke’s aunt and uncle in the Omena area. Hazaël-Massieux was tired of 12- to 14-hour days working for someone else, then driving home to Brooke and their daughter in Grand Rapids. So the couple took the leap, purchasing the restaurant and moving north.

He then opened the similarly-themed Bistro Fou Fou in 2012, and it was a popular dining spot for seven years before Hazaël-Massieux closed it, saying he was ready to enjoy life overseeing just one restaurant.

So what changed? Hazaël-Massieux says there are a couple reasons he was ready to reenter the Traverse City market. “This is a different product. It’s more a wine bar than a restaurant,” he says. “We’ll [offer] food, but all small plates: tapas, appetizers.”

But it was due to meeting Le Guen and discovering they shared a mutual dream that Hazaël-Massieux really embraced the idea of opening another location again. “I have a working partner. That makes a big difference,” he says.

The two met when Le Guen was pursuing his former vocation: He was a stylist and cut Hazaël-Massieux’s hair. “I was a hairstylist for 20 years. We would talk about our dreams. One of my dreams was always to own a bar, a wine bar. He said, ‘Me too.’”

They grew serious and created a business plan. Even with what they considered conservative figures, they were convinced the endeavor could turn a profit. With investors onboard, they began looking for a location. When the space that had been NoBo became available, they jumped at it.

They both say the partnership is what will enable both Colibri and La Bécasse to be successful. Le Guen has been shadowing Hazaël-Massieux at La Becasse to learn the business and will lead the front of house at Colibri. Hazaël-Massieux says the strong crew he has at La Bécasse will allow him to split time between the two.

“I want to learn. This is still new for me,” says Le Guen. “Guilliaume is my mentor, and I’m the energy he needs. We communicate and make decisions together.”

Food, Wine & Vibes

Though the emphasis is on wine, the food menu isn’t lacking. Cold plates (froid) include such options as a charcuterie and/or cheese plate, deviled eggs, oysters on the shell, shrimp cocktail, crab salad New Orleans style, and tomato and olive tapenade with goat cheese. Warm (chaud) plates feature frites (fries served with aioli), flat breads, masala with spicy lamb meatballs, and both Asian and Moroccan bites.

Got a sweet tooth? Colibri offers lemon bars, almond pear and other tarts, crème brûlée, panna cotta with fruit coulis, and other choices. Hazaël-Massieux does note that while the menu is well-rounded, there won’t be more than 15-20 items available at any one time.

Plans call for Colibri to be open 2-10pm Monday through Saturday. While it is first and foremost a wine bar, Colibri will offer some beers and cocktails, as well as flavorful non-alcoholic mocktails. “We call it a wine bar, but we want it to be a nice place for adults to hang out,” Le Guen says.

Colibri will feature both local wines, from such wineries as Left Foot Charley, Shady Lane Cellars, and Black Star Farms, and wines from across the country and the world. “Wine from France, the Old World—Spain, Germany, Austria, Slovenia. South America, Australia, South Africa—we want to bring things people are not used to having. There’s an amazing wine from Greece,” Hazaël-Massieux says.

All told there will be some 60 wines available by the glass.

The furnishings include various seating areas, boasting not only a bar and tables, but comfortable upholstered chairs and couches. “We’ll have 30 to 50 seats at the bar, a smaller dining room, a deck, a lounge,” Hazaël-Massieux says.

An exciting opportunity for the duo is the working relationship with the other tenants in the building, The Folded Leaf bookstore and The Alluvion music venue upstairs. “An important factor is the synergy with the Folded Leaf, Alluvion, and Colibri. We want to work together,” says Hazaël-Massieux. “Music, food, you can relax, sit on the stairs, drink a glass of wine.”

Colibri will handle the upstairs bar at the Alluvion as well. “The liquor license covers the whole building,” Hazaël-Massieux notes. He says they will all be working together to make things work. “It’s all uncharted territory. We’ll find the best way to do it. We’ll work closely with Jeff [Alluvion co-owner and frequent performer Jeff Haas]. The idea is to work hand in hand.”

Find Colibri Wine Bar at 414 E. Eighth St. in Traverse City. instagram.com/colibriwinebartc