Au Petit Riche, bourgeois French cuisine without a wrinkle

Nearly 170 years in business and not a single wrinkle or speck of dust on the tables. Since its opening in 1854, Au Petit Riche has been seducing the capital's upper middle class with its traditional French cuisine, prepared according to the rules of the art.

From then on, the "Tout-Paris" (the Parisian elite) flocked to this restaurant, which was fast becoming a Parisian institution, from the greatest artists, theatrical figures and writers, led by Colette and Jean Marais, to the highest political circles, with former Presidents of the Republic René Coty, Gaston Doumergue and more recently Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

The walls of the staircase are a tribute to a past rich in encounters and glitter, with numerous autographed photographs and notes left by celebrities as tokens of a good meal.

From the Second Empire to the Thirty Glorious Years, via the Roaring Twenties and the Belle Epoque, Au Petit Riche has weathered all these eras without changing its course, which is to offer refined, bourgeois French cuisine, authentic and generous on the plate as much as in its attentive service.

The restaurant's length reveals a number of different spaces: large rooms bathed in natural daylight, small lounges for greater intimacy, and upstairs private lounges for 6 to 45 guests, all set in a Belle Epoque décor - red banquettes and crystal chandeliers here and there - that looks as if it hasn't moved an iota since it was renovated in 1880 after the fire at theOpéra Comique, just a stone's throw away.

However, Au Petit Riche has recently undergone a facelift, with the opening of a wine bar, faithful to the spirit of the place but with an added touch of modernity that blends into the decor, with light-colored ceramic bistro tables and stand-up tables to mark the difference between the old and the new.

The opening of a space dedicated to the tasting of fine bottles was an obvious, if not necessary, move, given the restaurant's wine list, which is packed with clever beverages. With some 300 references, Au Petit Riche boasts one of the finest wine cellars in Paris, focusing mainly on Loire Valley wines, carefully selected by sommelier Jean-Paul Bruatto.

Here, too, modernity is the order of the day, with organic, natural and biodynamic wines alongside more classic bottles that can be sipped with carefully thought-out food and wine pairings.

On the à la carte menu, chef Pablo Veiga champions bourgeois French and Loire cuisine that's uncomplicated and contemporary, seasonal and well-sourced, always comforting and tasty. Generous, the institution' s cuisine is no less affordable, with lunch menus at €26 (starter/main course or main course/dessert) and €31 (starter/main course/dessert). As for the traditional weekly menu, it serves up its specialties day after day, the old-fashioned way: pollack on Tuesdays, whiting Colbert on Fridays, shoulder of lamb on Saturdays.

At our table, on the charming shaded terrace seating around 20, you'll find a slice of poultry pâté en croûte (19€) of excellent quality, generous with foie gras and pistachios, trout prepared in gravlax (14€) on a cushion of celery remoulade, a quenelle of pike (21€) in the purest Lyonnaise tradition, with an excellent Nantua sauce, not a drop of which is left, or an excellent aioli (26€) with steamed seasonal vegetables and cod steak.

For dessert, we keep with tradition, with a baba (9€) generously drizzled with rum straight from the bottle brought to the table.