Tea at Trianon: Café Lapérouse

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Café Lapérouse

Meanwhile, in Paris...From WWD:

“The idea is not to go for volume. The idea is to go for value and quality,” said Patou, adding that the first international Café Lapérouse could bow within 12 months. “We want to open in iconic locations that will accentuate the magical aura of the brand.”

When the executive visited the Hôtel de la Marine, he was struck by a portrait of 18th-century French navigator Jean-François de La Pérouse, who was lost at sea while exploring the Pacific under the rule of King Louis XVI. Though unrelated to the founder of the restaurant, the naval officer ended up inspiring the project.

“It suddenly clicked in my mind. It felt obvious that the first Café Lapérouse should be in the Hôtel de la Marine, this magical, prestigious and somewhat mysterious place — because for 250 years, everyone walked past it, but nobody was allowed inside,” Patou told WWD.

After serving for two centuries as the headquarters for the French navy, the building recently reopened as a museum after a four-year renovation. The sprawling, column-lined complex will also house the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery, the Al Thani Collection, a gift shop and offices.

Moma Group plans to open a second restaurant on site called Mimosa and headed by award-winning chef Jean-François Piège, in addition to a fine foods store, which will sell bottles from Lapérouse’s wine cellar and luxury items like foie gras, truffles and caviar. There will also be a separate chocolate and ice cream parlor.

Though de Castellane already had a hand in sprucing up the historic Lapérouse restaurant, she said it was her first time designing a restaurant from scratch. “It’s an exception,” she said, explaining that she took on the side project at Arnault’s request. “I thought it was a fun challenge.” (Read more.)