Le Grand Véfour (French: [lə ɡʁɑ̃ vefuʁ]), the first grand restaurant in Paris, [1] France, was opened in the arcades of the Palais-Royal in 1784 by Antoine Aubertot, as the Café de Chartres, [2] and was purchased in 1820 by Jean Véfour, [3] who was able to retire within three years, selling the restaurant to Jean Boissier. [4] A list of regular customers over the last two centuries includes most of the heavyweights of French culture and politics, e.g. Honoré de Balzac, Napoleon, Jean Cocteau, Colette and André Malraux [5] along with le tout-Paris. [6] Sauce Mornay was one of the preparations introduced at the Grand Véfour. Closed from 1905 to 1947, a revived Grand Véfour opened with the celebrated chef Raymond Oliver in charge in the autumn of 1948. Jean Cocteau designed his menu. [7] The restaurant, with its early nineteenth-century neoclassical décor of large mirrors in gilded frames and painted supraportes, continues its tradition of gastronomy at the same location, "a history-infused citadel of classic French cuisine." [8]
In 1983, the restaurant was destroyed in a bomb attack. It was then bought by Jean Taittinger who restored and reopened the place. [9]
When it lost one of its three Michelin stars in 2008 [10] under the régime of Guy Martin for the Taittinger Group, it was headline news. [11]
Notes
- ^ Elizabeth Sharland, A Theatrical Feast in Paris: From Molière to Deneuve 2008:40ff, "Le Grand Véfour".
- ^ A compliment to the aristocratic landlord, the duc de Chartres, soon to be known as Philippe-Égalité.
- ^ Rebecca L. Spang, The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, pp. 6, 64, 182, 187, 206, 220, 224, 226, 238f and 245.
- ^ Sharland 2008:41.
- ^ Pudlowski, Gilles (15 April 2024). "La Crème de la Crème : Guy Martin au Véfour : » je cuisine avec mes souvenirs. »". Le blog de Gilles Pudlowski. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ Little brass plaques mark the favourite seats of notables like Colette and Victor Hugo.
- ^ ""Les étoiles du Grand Véfour"". Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
- ^ Frommer's Guide
- ^ Sharland, Elizabeth (November 2005). A Theatrical Feast in Paris: From Moliere to Deneuve. iUniverse. p. 44. ISBN 9780595374519.
- ^ The third star, awarded Olivier in 1953 and lost with his departure, had been regained in the 2000 Guide Michelin ( "Les étoiles du Grand Véfour" Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ "Grand Vefour restaurant in Paris loses third Michelin star" International Herald-Tribune,, 3 March 2008
