FoodNet

The gourmet's guide to Europe

1903

Page 17

Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The Pavilion d’Armenonville, another of the Boi^ restaurants, has always been in high favour with smart Paris. It has been the custom since Armenonville its building that men shall wear dress Bois de clothes when dining at this restaurant, Boulogne an unwritten rule which has not been enforced in any other restaurant. When the very broad glass shelter which runs round the house is filled with diners, the ladies in dinner dresses and plumed and feathered hats, the men in their evening black and white ; when the tables are heaped with flowers; when the trees outside are garlanded with coloured lanterns ; when the two bands, playing alternately, make gentle music which does not interfere with conversation, then Armenonville forms a scene brilliant enough for any theatre to stage. The luxurious surroundings have, of course, to be paid for, but though the prices at these little palaces in the great wood are high, they are not exorbitant. The Chateau de Madrid used to be a collection of old buildings grouped about a courtyard in which were trees. Under these trees were chateau de little iron tables ; Japanese lanterns Madrid, Bois were amidst the foliage; and there de Boulogne was a pleasant sensation in dining thus in a half light, with the buildings around all in deep shadow. The old buildings have now disappeared, and have been replaced by a brand new white restaurant, with great plate glass windows and large mirrors, and decoration of trellis work, and by a new hotel which stands facing the road. The trees still remain, and under them on hot evenings the little tables are still set. But the charm of the old chateau has disappeared. There is a blaze of electric light, and a band plays all the airs of the moment. M. Marius, of Henry’s of the Place 28 The Gourmets Guide to Europe Gaillon, is the proprietor of the new hotel and new restaurant, and the prices are those of the Place Gaillon, and also, happily, so is the cookery. The chateau is just outside the Bois, and the steam trams of the Chemin de Fer du Bois run past it. One break- fasts there very pleasantly on race days. The Pavilion Royal, at the near end of the lake in the Bois, used to be a bourgeois restaurant, where one Pavilion Royal, might breakfast and dine in compara- Bois de Boulogne tively humble company at a compara- tively humble rate. It, however, has been rebuilt and redecorated, has become smart, has an excellent cook, and its prices have risen with its reputation. The Chalet du Cycle, which also used to be a very bourgeois restaurant, has also now grown proud, and calls itself L’Ermitage de Longchamps. The Restaurant de la Cascade is a gay little cafe near the racecourse, and many people breakfast on its lawn on race days. The Chalet des Isles is a favourite lunching- place when the lakes are frozen. In the Avenue Victor Hugo is Carron’s, a simple Carron's and cheap restaurant, which is some- Avenue Victor times patronised in cold or wet weather Hug0 by men going to the races. A gar- gantuan dinner can be obtained there at five or six francs. The Select Bar is a little restaurant, and is rather off the beaten track, but the St. Cloud tramcars pass it.