Another because, in Chapter 240, I recounted our breakfast at Bouillon Café de L’Industrie – a few short blocks from where we are moored in Paris. The restaurant with the cat that tried to steal Jeannie’s breakfast. At the bottom of the chapter, I pasted a paragraph from Wikipedia that gives a brief history of bouillons. They date back to the mid-1800s and are likely the first restaurant chain in Paris. By 1900, there were nearly 250 of them in the city. Originally, they provided a cheap meal for nearby workers. They were called bouillon as that is the French word for broth – the principal component (along with some meat) of what was served.
There are still a number of them operating in Paris. Most have stunning art-deco interiors. We had dinner at this one. Although the name above the door says Camille Chartier, if you want to eat here, search for Bouillon Racine. The first shot is the exterior as we went in. At the end, a photo of the exterior as we left. As you will see, we took our time having dinner. Which you really are supposed to do in France.
The Carte (top row in French, bottom row in English) says there is a lunch Menu (Monday through Friday) for €19.50. Not unreasonable for Paris.
We went for dinner and, as usual, were the first ones there. The advantages of arriving shortly after 7 are: You will be assured of a table as most bouillons do not accept reservations; and they will not have run out of what you wish to order. Occasionally, you may have to wait a bit for your meal as the chef may not be expecting diners to arrive so early. But there will be someone to greet you.
We took the staircase to the first floor. (Unless you are from North America and call it the second floor.)
Upstairs, it felt like we had time-traveled back to the 1920s.
We went with our good friends Pete and Tess. (Tess took all the photos on this page – but failed to include herself in any of them. There is a shot of their barge, La Belle Hélène, in Chapter 239 – but still nothing of Tess.) I do have a photo of Pete, me, and a bit of Jeannie’s arm. We started the meal with Champagne. Of course. As you can see, even though it’s shortly before 8pm, not another soul has arrived.
We didn’t have to memorize what we had read at the front door. We were given a Carte. It included a bit more history than what Wikipedia had provided.
There was plenty to choose from on the Carte – but we did what we usually do, opt for the Menu of the day.
No shot of the soup. But you do get to see the Onglet de boeuf (Angus from Ireland) and the Poire Belle-Hélène. Did the Bouillon put it on the the Menu today in honour of Pete and Tess’s barge? (Sharp-eyed readers will notice the Menu is dated 30 March 2023. Yes, the Menu can change daily – and yes, the dinner was almost a year ago. (I thought I had already posted photos of Bouillon Racine. Obviously, I hadn’t.)
Things had changed by the time we finished our meal. The dining room that was empty when we arrived was now full.
Not so, the bar. At ten-after-nine, customers were just starting to come in.
It was dark when we left – more than two hours after we sat down at our table. About the right amount of time for a dinner in Paris.
