The formula is infallible: affordable prices (something rare in Paris), good food and vintage furniture. And very fast service. The soup? 1€. The stew? €1.50. The caramelized cream? €3.20. You can get a whole meal for the equivalent of $10. In a city where eating for less than 20 euros is increasingly a pipe dream, bouillons are the new gastronomic fever. A bouillon is a broth, while bouillons are restaurants that originated in the 19th century and serve typical French dishes in addition to broth.
Today, as inflation has driven many customers out of brasseries and bistros, Paris is experiencing bouillon fever. Hundreds or more people line up outside to get in. Sometimes guests wait for over an hour. Tourists, locals, families and students are crowded inside.
By 2017, bouillons were declining on both the left and right banks of the Seine. This year there was only one left: the sole survivor of the 19th century bouillons. According to a count by the newspaper Le Parisien, there are now ten. And they are expanding to other French cities.
A waiter smokes a cigarette during a break at Bouillon Chartier in Paris. Samuel Aranda
The secret? “People want more than just a dish. They want decor and a good atmosphere,” says Yann Hulin, the operations manager of Bouillon Chartier, the oldest bouillon that has survived the centuries. It has inspired many other recently opened establishments. “It’s not expensive,” notes Hulin. “Does that mean it’s not good because it’s not expensive?” NO!”
We are at Bouillon Chartier, 7 Rue du Faubourg, Montmartre, in the busy Grand Boulevards area. It’s Wednesday, 6 p.m. We sit amidst the comings and goings of the waiters and the hustle and bustle of the guests, an authentic ballet and a symphony.
Little has changed since 1896, when the Chartier brothers opened the restaurant. The wood is worn; The paper napkins are used by waiters to write down orders and add up bills. You can see the numbered lockers where the regulars – workers and employees – used to keep their tablecloths.
Hulin, a man with decades of experience in the industry, explains that the restaurant has had multiple owners in over a century (and may have survived two world wars, one foreign occupation, three republics and 18 presidents). , but never “changed the facility, the way it works, or the affordable prices.”
“The paper menu that we print every day with the date at the top is the same,” he continues, before listing the main dishes (without forgetting the prices): “We can offer you a menu for 10 €): a starter , the main course and a dessert.”
A waiter holds a typical plate of eggs with mayonnaise at Bouillon Republique in Paris.Samuel Aranda
Chartier – currently with three locations – will be integrated into the Joulie Group. The key to the success of these restaurants (and their imitators) is “value for money,” say those who run multiple broths. Almost 2,000 covers per day enable restaurateurs to negotiate low prices with suppliers. The fast pace also helps. You sit down and eat without even realizing it. In 50 minutes, a little over an hour, the customer has already gotten up and cleared the table for the next dinner. Considering that the bouillons are open from noon to midnight, there is a brisk turnover.
Historian Loïc Bienassis from the European Institute of Food History and Cultures in Tours explains the success of bouillons as “the success of the word”. Bouillon “conveys a whole nostalgia [imagination].” The mere mention of the word brings to mind another era. And there is another key, says Bienassis: “the success of the concept.” The concept is “bourgeois and traditional cuisine – a bit bistro-like, with good value for money – in the center of the city and in relatively large spaces .” [tap into] Nostalgia.”
Salmon with vegetables and potatoes in Bouillon Chartier in Paris.Samuel Aranda
A herring starter with potatoes at Bouillon ChartierSamuel Aranda
Traditional crème caramel dessert in Chartier broth.Samuel Aranda
Bienassis traces the origins of bouillons back to the mid-19th century, when a certain Baptiste-Adolphe Duval opened the first one on Rue Montesquieu. Like the bouillons of today – which run like Swiss clockwork and are authentic factories for quick and popular food – Duval invented a rational and efficient system. Many others imitated it and by the end of the century there were about 200 in Paris.
Of these, however, only Chartier survived. Why? “Coincidence,” shrugs the historian. Chartier kept the flame burning throughout the 20th century. If it had disappeared, the bouillons would certainly have been forgotten. “It enabled the survival of the word and the imagination.”
I remember Bouillon Chartier from the 1980s. The numbered lockers, the hustle and bustle, the waiters in uniform. It was a typical and unique place. When I returned three decades later, the feeling was strange. Apparently nothing had changed… but you had to wait in line to get in, and there were several tourists among the customers. There was also a merchandise shop.
When I had lunch there again a few days ago with the photographer Samuel Aranda, everything was the same: from the old menu to the waiter who knew how to put on a show.
The dining room was full of people during dinner service at Bouillon Chartier in Paris, Samuel Aranda
“Let’s start at the end!” called out our waiter. He was a man with a southern French accent who made a mistake and brought us profiteroles (which were meant for another table) instead of the starters.
And the food? You have to admit that you don’t go to a brothel to try haute cuisine. Samuel, eating at Bouillon Chartier for the first time, found a precise phrase to describe the hearty fare: “Proudly decadent.”
That’s the main difference between this broth and the new ones, which lack the aged flavor. One evening at Bouillon République, which belongs to the same group as Bouillon Pigalle, a hundred people were waiting outside. However, since there were three of us at our party, we were able to get through online after just 20 minutes. Inside, the atmosphere was electric. There were tables full of students screaming and singing. “It looks like a school cafeteria,” someone commented. “Or a beer festival,” added another of my companions.
Paul Moussié, restaurant manager, explains that the average time for each meal in this restaurant is 50 minutes at lunchtime. At night it may last an hour and 10 minutes or an hour and 20 minutes. “To make a profit we need [constant turnover].”
The lockers where customers’ tablecloths used to be stored, at the Bouillon Chartier in Paris, Samuel Aranda
At Bouillon République, everything is more modern and shiny than at Chartier. There are several languages on the menu. The waiter writes down the order on a screen. You can pay with your phone. When you finish eating and leave, you see that there are still tons of people in line. I remembered the quote from Yogi Berra, the famous baseball player and coach known for his absurd aphorisms. He once said about a restaurant: “No one goes there anymore.” “It’s too crowded.”
Could it be that the long wait to enter is putting customers off? Or is it a point of pride? “It’s more of an advantage for us,” smiles Moussié.
A table set waiting for dinner at Bouillon Chartier in ParisSamuel Aranda
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