Le Procope

Do you come to Paris for the finest restaurants, or for a room where history sits down to eat with you? If it is the second, walk into Le Procope — held to be one of the oldest eating houses in the city.

Here every table, every old painting, every corner of the wall seems to have kept the voices of people who changed France. This is not simply a place to eat French food. It is a place to dine inside an open page of history.

In many restaurants, history is used as decoration to create an atmosphere. At Le Procope, history is part of the furniture.

The Sicilian who brought coffee to Paris

At 13 Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie, in the middle of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Le Procope was founded in 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian who brought coffee culture to Paris.

Coffee was then still a novelty in France. The house quickly became a meeting point for intellectuals, artists, writers and politicians. Unlike an ordinary tavern, it became a cultural salon, a place to argue about art, philosophy and the future of society.

The list of regulars

What makes Le Procope famous is not only three centuries of trading. It is the list of people who came through the door.

Voltaire was a constant. The story goes that he could drink dozens of cups of chocolate and coffee in a day while arguing philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot and many figures of the Enlightenment also used the house to exchange ideas.

But its most famous chapter belongs to the Revolution. At the end of the eighteenth century the restaurant became a meeting place for revolutionaries. Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Danton and other significant figures were seen here.

Political arguments took place between old wooden tables, where a dinner could end in an idea that shook a country.

Walking in today

Enter Le Procope now and you still feel eighteenth-century Paris. Large mirrors, chandeliers, the old staircase, the portraits and the warm red rooms give the sense of returning to the time of writers, aristocrats and philosophers.

That is the particular thing: you are not only eating in a restaurant, you are inside a piece of French cultural heritage.

What to order

The kitchen keeps to French classics. Among the best known is coq au vin, chicken cooked in red wine in the Burgundian manner — very good with a Bourgogne Pinot Noir or a softly structured Côtes-du-Rhône.

Another choice is filet de bœuf Rossini, fine beef with foie gras, usually taken with a full red such as a Bordeaux Saint-Émilion.

For something with more history in it, try the Enlightenment-inspired poularde named for Voltaire, or soupe à l'oignon gratinée, French onion soup under melted cheese. Simple, and very Parisian, particularly on a cold day.

For dessert, crème brûlée, mille-feuille or moelleux au chocolat are safe ways to finish.

Wine

A dinner here should go with French wine. For elegance, take a white Burgundy such as Chablis with the first course or with seafood, and a red Bordeaux with the meat. The house also pours a good range by the glass, which suits anyone who would rather try several things than commit to a bottle.

Afterwards

The streets around are among the best in Paris for walking. A few minutes away stands the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the oldest in the city. Take the cobbles slowly, look into the bookshops, the small galleries and the legendary cafés where the artists of the twentieth century met.

The quarter photographs beautifully, with all its classical charm: blue-green doors, iron balconies, amber street lamps and unmistakably Parisian façades. If you want to keep going, walk on to the Latin Quarter, to the Seine, or to the Pont des Arts for sunset.

Not for people in a hurry

Le Procope is not for anyone who wants to eat quickly and leave. It is for people who want to take Paris in with every sense.

Because here the meal is over in an hour, but the story of the room can stay with you for years.