History of Gastronomic Paris - From the Middle Ages to the Present Day

Inns, "bouillons" (traditional French restaurants), cafés, brasseries, bistros, "starred" restaurants... Dive into ten centuries of a flavorful history: that of culinary Paris.

Paris is undeniably the capital of gastronomy. But who knows how this reputation was built year after year? How did restaurants and the best dining establishments gradually develop? Why were the greatest chefs drawn to this city?
From the Middle Ages, the city was a major consumption center and an important food market. While the central markets symbolized the "belly of Paris," a refined culinary craft gradually developed there.

At the dawn of the Renaissance, the capital was perceived as a land of plenty and set the tone for good eating and drinking. It quickly became the scene of culinary debates and revolutions: cuisine was intellectualized there, a new gourmet literature was created, and the restaurant was invented.

Little by little, the art of "good food" was established as dogma, and Paris became the world capital for gourmets. Now cosmopolitan and internationally renowned, the City of Light is at the forefront of innovation: after giving rise to "nouvelle cuisine" in the 1970s and "bistronomy" in the 2000s, it has been reinventing and modernizing gastronomy (thanks to food trucks and other "ready-to-eat" options) since the 2010s. 

From the first "petits pâtés" in the Parisian style bought from street vendors to the creation of iconic institutions (Le Dôme, La Coupole, La Closerie des Lilas, etc.), and including the invention of the famous "Parisian bouillons," this work, based on in-depth and original research, offers us the rich and little-known history of a gourmet Paris.