La Tour d’Argent’s history is woven into the very fabric of Parisian culture. This oldest restaurant in Paris will provide a special perspective on two major events in 2024: the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Summer Olympics. The restaurant reopened in August 2023, after a 15-month renovation, included the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Salvador Dalí, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and more.
Timeless Elegance At La Tour d’Argent
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The moment you step into La Tour d’Argent, you are enveloped in an atmosphere of timeless elegance. In 1582, the original iteration of la Tour d’Argent opened as a ground-floor inn. The Tour d’Argent, sometimes known as “the Silver Tower,” got its name from the sparkling champenoise stone that was used to construct it in the beginning.
Back then, the restaurant served nobility, aristocrats, and monarchy in the sixteenth century. It offered a dining area, a popular dining destination for French monarchs. According to history, it was here that King Henry III first saw a fork, which at the time was the newest craze to come out of Italy.
The restaurant moved to the top level in 1936, giving way to a more modern layout that included massive bay windows with views of Paris. When the restaurant was relocated from the ground floor to the sixth floor of the building on Quai de la Tournelle in 1936, when floor-to-ceiling windows provided expansive views of the city, that was the time when La Tour d’Argent was closed for renovations then.
Renowned Director Brad Bird, who spent days at the restaurant drawing the dining room, has signed a little picture of Ratatouille among the autographs and pictures in the restaurant’s “Hall of Fame” of some of its most famous patrons. . Crystal chandeliers cast a warm glow over rich mahogany furnishings. The dining rooms are adorned with antique tapestries.
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Culinary Legacy
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At the heart of La Tour d’Argent’s enduring appeal lies its culinary prowess. The restaurant has long been celebrated for its traditional French cuisine. One of the standout offerings is the restaurant’s signature dish, canard au sang. The theatrical preparation of this dish which translates to bloody duck, is carried over from the 19th century, when Frédéric Delair was the restaurant’s previous proprietor.
For those who would like to experience the restaurant’s distinct atmosphere without committing to a full meal, it also offers options. It features a ground-floor lounge that serves croissants in the morning, a nighttime cocktail bar next door and a rooftop bar that is open in the warmer months and offers stunning views of the restaurant. The Michelin-starred restaurant is still among the most exclusive places to eat in the French city today.
Oh lovely, it must be to dine at La Tour d’Argent!
Cover image credits: Instagram/La Tour d’Argent
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