The Historic Restaurants of Paris

Book excerpt: The vanished world of nineteenth-century Paris still awaits behind the doors of select restaurants and gourmet shops that have delighted customers for more than a hundred years. Crossing these thresholds, the discriminating diner and shopper can step into a gilded Belle Epoque setting favored by Manet and Degas, a vintage confectioner that supplied bonbons to Monet, or a shaded café terrace frequented by Zola. From tiny pâtisseries, cozy bistros, and rustic wine bars barely known outside the quarter to bustling brasseries, elegant tea salons, and world-famous cafés, The Historic Restaurants of Paris is an indispensible guide to classic cuisine served in settings of startling beauty. Charming anecdotes relating to a restaurant’s history and celebrated former patrons, among them Proust, Balzac, George Sand, and the Impressionists, enhance this pocketable guide, which is both a practical resource and lovely gift book.