Tuesday, December 8, 2009

La Tour d'Argent, Haute Cuisine á Paris



" We are your friends- be our accomplices. Nothing should be taken more seriously than pleasure"
Claude Terrail

La Tour d'Argent, with its superb view of the Seine, has been a Paris tradition depuis 1582. For the last century the Terrail family has maintained this restaurant's sterling reputation (although they've lost a Michelin star or two over the years. C'est dommage.) Their specialty, canard á la presse is so popular they raise their own ducks, and have served over 1 million to date! Another delicious place that I doubt I will ever experience, but I enjoyed photographing the entrance!

15 comments:

Shell Sherree said...

Stunning, V ~ and the black and white makes it, in my humble opinion. I hope you do get to sample their specialty dish one day, but at least your eyes {therefore ours} can feast. Thank you!

La Mom-an American Mom in Paris said...

I *did* eat there once and have no idea how much it cost since I had the menu with no prices on it! They have a wine list the size of the Book of Kells.

Great photo -- brings back wonderful memories.

La Mom
An American Mom in Paris

Laurent said...

Funny you post that picture of La Tour d'Argent because they are on top of the news these days as they are selling 18000 bottles of their cellar in order to make space for new bottles. Don't worry, they still have around 400 000 bottles left in their 4 century old cellar.Today they sold a Cognac bottle dating from 1788 !

Blind Fly Theater said...

Good Morning V!
Thanks for stopping to snap this one... These are the simple things that'll fill my Paris trip one day. This must be Guimard influenced, and is a design element I love. Thanks again!
I am also enriched by Laurent's input, about the 4 century old wine cellar, its almost half-million bottles, and the selling of a 1788 Cognac. Wow!
David *

workhard said...

It is definitely a beautiful entrance.. Nice pic

Birth Certificate

Starman said...

We considered eating there once, but for what it would have cost for that one meal, we could eat for a week in other restaurants where the food is just as good.

Virginia said...

Starman, I agree, high priced food is not where I like to spend my euros!

La Mom,
Thanks for stopping by I LOVE your blog. You absolutely make my day. I hope all my Francophile readers are reading your blog as well.

Workhard,
Merci. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

David,
you are too kind. I am thrilled my photos bring you such pleasure.

Laurent,
And I'm sure that wine they are selling is at a bargain prix n'est-ce pas?? :)

Shell,
I don't think there's a glass of champagne with my name all over here! :( I would love to see the view from up there though.

Louis la Vache said...

Alas, «Louis» couldn't afford to eat there when he lived in Paris - student budget, doncha know...

The restaurant is very near where «Louis» lived - only about 5 blocks away, if you count Île-Saint-Louis as one of the blocks...

Alexa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alexa said...

Like Louis, I also lived not far from here once upon a time. This one is still on my "to do" list.

Petrea Burchard said...

John and I ate there; our friends insisted on taking us. Lunch for the four of us was at least $1000, partly because our host is a wine merchant and just had to sample as much as he could from that "Book of Kells" wine list. I had the duck. I would say the food is very good, not amazing. The wines were amazing.

The best part: because our host made friends with the sommelier, we were given a tour of the famous cave. It's wonderful! They were able to hide a section with a sliding wall when the Nazis came to town. If that hadn't been the case, that 1788 cognac would not have been there to sell today.

Roseann said...

Virginia-

Did you hear? This morning NPR said that La Tour d'Argent auctioned off approx 18 thousand ottles of wine to make room for more:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704611404574556381264248554.html

Maya said...

Maybe we should go the next time we all congregate in Gay Paree again!

The entrance looks beautiful!

Virginia said...

Maya,
Make sure you rob a Swiss bank before trekking down to Paris to take me to dinner here! :)

Maya said...

Hah! Well, I would, but I hear they aren't doing so well these days either! :P