When did you start ?

We created our restaurant Au Vieux Paris d’Arcole, located at number 24 rue Chanoinesse, Paris 4th, behind Notre Dame de Paris, in 1995. This very beautiful house, dating back to 1582, used to be the home of the canon of Notre Dame de Paris. It includes seven living rooms, three cellars, the kitchen and a pretty, cobbled inner courtyard. The façade is adorned with a wisteria that is nearly a hundred years old.
When we met in 1993, Odette was a cook and she quite naturally brought me into this catering world, which I enjoyed. Odette is in charge of the kitchen and I am in charge of purchasing, the wine cellar, the decoration, receiving clients, the equipment and whatever is necessary for the smooth running of a restaurant.  

What kind of cuisine do you propose ?

Odette comes from the Aveyron department originally, so she makes dishes based on the best traditional recipes from the region, such as tomaguiole with fresh tomme cheese from Laguiole, petits farçous sauvages with seven green vegetables, aubraccito (beef carpaccio from Aubrac), coufidou d’Aubrac with Marcillac wine in a stew (beef stew traditionally made for two centuries with chuck and its blood thickened sauce), Aubrac sirloin fillet with morel mushroom sauce, fattened duck steak from the Aveyron or duck breast with orange sauce, farmhouse chicken preserve, terrine with ceps, pan-fried foie gras, aligot, etc. We work with the produce Nature offers us, such as dandelions, wild cress, wild berries and fruit for desserts and homemade jams, wild mushrooms, and also wild game, etc. We go down to the Aveyron to get them twice a month, as we have a hotel-restaurant there in the middle of the Marcillac vineyard, surrounded by a wooded park of six hectares (plus swimming pool, tennis courts). In summer, we organize an international music festival there with classical and romantic music and some jazz. The theme for the 2010 season will be: Philarmonia Romantica – Aveyron.
Our cooking is simple, traditional, generous, and it changes constantly. The best cooking is that which stays close to Nature and respects the seasons. Our €39 special offer is very popular: it is a tasting menu with three wonderful starters, a copious main dish, and a choice of four desserts, including a thin-crust wild apple pie. There is also the Odette’s gourmet menu (table d’hôtes gourmande) at €59 that includes in addition homemade foie gras, wild stuffed pilgrim scallops, farçous, etc. The clients go down to the wine cellar to choose their wine, just as if they were at home. Our wine list includes 50 listed wines, some excellent ‘cols’ that I have selected, particularly from Burgundy and Languedoc, plus a certain number under our own label that come directly from the vineyard.

Who are you clients ?

Our clientele includes about ten different nationalities as we are located close to Notre -Dame de Paris. We serve about sixty meals a day, with ten at midday and fifty in the evening. Our clients are very loyal and they include musicians, well-known orchestra conductors, opera directors, writers and poets, politicians, captains of industry, etc. We opted to do simple, tasty cooking, because cuisine now is increasingly moving back to simplicity, nature, the authentic taste of products and turning away from sophistication.

What development are you planning ?

You can lunch or dine with us a bit like at home. Some of our clients like to see what’s happening in the kitchen. Cooking in front of your clients is one concept to consider. Furthermore, a lot of people want to visit our restaurant, so we are going to develop part of the restaurant into a museum, with theme-based exhibits. The first will start in April 2010 and will be devoted to superb fabrics from Bordeaux manufacturers. The restaurant will be open from 11 am to 6 pm and then up to midnight, but it will be lighter at lunchtime with a single dish, or even a snack, depending on the demand.

What do you think of Rungis Market ?

When you have Rungis right next to you, it would be made not to go there. Besides the products we bring back from the Averyron, a good part comes from Rungis. I go there once a week and I buy vegetables, meat, poultry, flowers, decorations and groceries there. You find quality products there, in good quantity, with a wide choice.