Printemps is best known for the Brasserie Printemps located under the famous art nouveau cupola but it has a number of other places to eat. Among the eateries are the famous patisserie Ladurée, the lovely terrace of Le Déli-Cieux, Cojean in the basement, the Russian tearoom Poushkine and Le World Bar designed as a sports bar for husbands to wait while their wives shop. The cupola was created in 1923 with a modern renovation of the restaurant by Didier Gomez in 2006. In 1939, to avoid the risk that the cupola would be destroyed in bombing attacks, it was dismantled and stored at Clichy. It was restored in 1973 by the grandson of its original designer, using plans that had been kept in the archives of the family business. In 1975, the façade and cupola of the building were registered as historical monuments.
We decided to have lunch here, just because the setting was so beautiful although the stained glass has seen better days.
I ordered some caviar for 35€ although I should have known better. The pancake on the left is the blini, a small metal spoon to scoop the caviar (which of course I didn’t use), no creme fraiche and a muddled mixture of egg with chives. The caviar tasted ok though.
Lisa ordered a lentil salad topped with a poached egg, very tasty.
I had shrimp on top of a salad of bean sprouts and finely sliced cucumber, drenched in vinaigrette with passion fruit. This was really delicious and you have to admit the plating is beautiful. The passion fruit added a nice dimension to the dressing.
Lisa also had an antipasti salad topped with a lovely blob of mozzarella cheese. Altogether, the food was quite good, the ambiance exceptional, service very attentive and the prices were very reasonable. I am not sure I would come specifically to eat here but if I were in the neighborhood to shop, this would be one of the places to eat.
Since I am writing about eating at Printemps, I thought I would include pictures of some of the other restaurants. In the picture above you see the Russian tearoom Café Poushkine.
They have a small outdoor section where smoking is allowed and where you can enjoy the weather on warmer days.
Ladurée is famous patisserie and tea room, pictured above at Printemps. Ladurée is credited with the very first of the now famous French macarons. The story of the Ladurée macaron starts with Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 20th century first thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling. The rest, as they say, is history. This is actually just an outlet, the flagship tearoom was founded in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from France’s southwest, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris. In 1871, while Baron Haussmann was giving Paris a ‘‘new face’’, a fire transformed the bakery into a pastry shop. The decoration of the pastry shop was entrusted to Jules Cheret, a famous turn-of-the-century painter and poster artist. Cheret sought inspiration from the painting techniques used for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Garnier Opera.
They even have a little stand near the front door on the ground level to get your fix of macarons. We decided to get a little box of macarons to take home (sigh, so much for the diet).
The last place that I will mention is Le Déli-Cieux, a self service terrace restaurant with great views. It wasn’t open when we were there, when the weather gets better we may try again, the view looks great. I will close here, this list should give you some ideas for lunch if you are shopping on Boulevard Houssemann.
References:
Brasserie Printemps: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d1233927-Reviews-Brasserie_Printemps-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
Café Poushkine: http://www.cafe-pouchkine.fr/
Ladurée: http://www.laduree.fr/en/scene
Le Déli-Cieux: http://www.paristopten.com/en/toptens/places-to-eat-and-drink/top-ten-terraces/le-deli-cieux/
Posted with Blogsy