Bouillon (restaurant)

In France, a bouillon is a traditional (late 19th or early 20th-century), spacious restaurant that usually serves traditional French cuisine, in particular a bouillon, which provides the name for this class of restaurants.[1]

When invented, the concept was to serve good quality food quickly at an affordable price. By repeating the same formula across multiple sites, the founder also effectively invented the chain restaurant; however, this had no influence (beyond other bouillons), and ultimately it was American restaurant chains that revived the concept in France.[2]

Today the buildings of some bouillons are listed historical monuments.[3][4][5][6][7]

History

In 1838 a Dutch company began to sell bouillon in uniform outlets.[8] These first "Bouillons Hollandais" did not survive, but in 1854 a French butcher, Adolphe-Baptiste Duval (1811-1870), revived the idea (and is typically erroneously credited with originating it).[9] He proposed a single dish of meat and a bouillon (soup/stock) to the workers of the market halls. In 1900 nearly two hundred and fifty bouillons could be found in Paris. They became the first popular chain of restaurants. Some other more "upper-class" bouillons offered a reading room or some entertainment.

Meanwhile, Art Nouveau spread through Europe. The various World's Fairs in Paris (1878, 1889, and 1900) accelerated its influence, and restaurants followed the trend.

In 1896 Bouillon Chartier was opened by brothers Frédéric and Camille Chartier on Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. In 1903 Bouillon Gandon-Duval opened in an old restaurant converted by the owner and architect, Edouard Fournier.

In 1904 another bouillon with luxurious Art Nouveau decoration was opened on Boulevard Saint-Germain. The architect was Jean-Marie Bouvier

Popular culture

Afin d'séduire la petite chatte. Je l'emmenai dîner chez Chartier Comme elle est fine et délicate. Elle prit un pied d'cochon grillé

• The novel A Killer at Sorbonne by René Reouven was inspired by the characters and customers at Bouillon Racine. In this context, the novelist recalls the assassination of Symon Petliura by Sholom Schwartzbard in 1926, which took place at the exit of Bouillon Camille Chartier (i.e. Bouillon Racine).[13]
• In 1939 Fernandel sang of Chez Chartier in the song "Félicie aussi" by Albert Willemetz:

• In the novel Les Beaux Quartiers by Louis Aragon, Chez Chartier is mentioned as the restaurant where young Edmond Barbentane lunches regularly.
• The setting of the closing scene in Mathieu Amalric's telefilm La Chose publique is at Chez Chartier.

See also

• Chez Chartier

Videos

• Chartier restaurant Paris (French)

Books

• Matthieu Flory/Clémentine Forissier: Restaurants, brasseries et bistrots parisiens. Editions Ereme, Paris 2007, pp. 82–85, ISBN 9782915337471
• Jean Colson/Marie-Christine Lauroa (Eds.): Dictionnaire des monuments de Paris. Editions Hervas, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-84334-001-2

External links

• Restaurant Chartier
• Le Grand Colbert
• Bouillon Bilk
• Restaurant Le Vagenende