''Au Rocher de Cancale'' is a restaurant located in the 2nd arrondissement of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France. It was very popular in the 19th century thanks to its suppers offered after theatre and opera shows.

History

The restaurant was founded in 1804 by Alexis Balaine. It offered oyster specialities after spectacles. Dandies, Lorettes, aristocrats and

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, a ...

used to meet at this restaurant, then located at 59 Rue Montorgueil. At the time, the restaurant offered an extensive list of dishes: 10 mutton, 17 veal, 11 beef and 22 poultry starters, 27 '' entremets'' and 30 desserts. In 1809, La Reynière installed its tasting jury in the restaurant.

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

and

Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated ''The Mysteries of Paris'', whic ...

were patrons of the restaurant. In 1837, chef Langlais created the "Norman sole" in ''Le Rocher de Cancales kitchen. Balaine's successor, Pierre Frédéric Borrel, went bankrupt and closed the establishment in 1846. The restaurant was latered re-opened under the same name at

Rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Haussman ...

. Panel Histoire de Paris in front of the restaurant Mr Pécune then moved the restaurant back to Rue Montorgueil (to No. 78). The work ''Rocher de Cancale'' is still in the building, as well as frescoes made by

Paul Gavarni Paul Gavarni was the pen name of Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (13 January 1804 – 24 November 1866), a French illustrator, born in Paris. Early career Gavarni's father, Sulpice Chevalier, was from a family line of coopers from Burgundy. Paul ...

. The building was classified as an official

Historical Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

on March 3, 1977. A building of the same name existed in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1874.

In popular culture

's ''

La Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'', characters Henri de Marsay, Madame du Val-Noble, Coralie, Lucien de Rubempré, Étienne Lousteau and Dinah de La Baudraye were regular patrons of the restaurant. The restaurant is notably cited in '' Le Cabinet des Antiques'', '' La Muse du département'', ''

Illusions perdues ''Illusions perdues'' — in English, ''Lost Illusions'' — is a serial novel written by the French writer Honoré de Balzac between 1837 and 1843. It consists of three parts, starting in provincial France, thereafter moving to Paris, and final ...

'', ''

Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes ''Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes'', translated variously as ''The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans'', ''A Harlot High and Low'', or as ''Lost Souls'', is an 1838-1847 novel by French novelist Honoré de Balzac, published in four initia ...

'' and other works.'' Honorine'', Bibliothèque de la Pléiade,1976, t. IV, ; ''

Un début dans la vie ''Un début dans la vie'' (''A Start in Life'') is a novel by the French writer Honoré de Balzac. It is the sixth of the ''Scènes de la vie privée'' (''Scenes of Private Life'') in La Comédie humaine. The novel was serialized in the review ' ...

'', Pléiade, 1976, t. IV, ; ''

La Rabouilleuse ''La Rabouilleuse'' (''The Black Sheep'', or ''The Two Brothers'') is an 1842 novel by Honoré de Balzac, and is one of '' The Celibates'' in the series ''La Comédie humaine''. ''The Black Sheep'' is the title of the English translation by Donal ...

'', Pléiade, 1977, t. VI, ; '' La Muse du département'', Pléiade, 1977, t. VI, ; '' Le Cabinet des Antiques'', Pléiade, 1977, t.VII, ; ''

'', Pléiade, 1978, t. VIII, ; '' La Fille aux yeux d'or'', Pléiade, 1978, t. IX, ; '' La Maison Nucingen'', Pléiade, 1980, t. XI, ; '' Les Employés ou la Femme supérieure'', Pléiade, 1980, t. XI,

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{commons category, Le Rocher de Cancale Restaurants in Paris French restaurants in France Buildings and structures in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris 1804 establishments Monuments historiques of Paris