The Café Anglais (, ''English café'') was a famous French restaurant located at the corner of the

Boulevard des Italiens The Boulevard des Italiens () is a boulevard in Paris. It is one of the 'Grands Boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the Wall of Charles V and the Louis XIII Wall, which were destroyed by the orders of ...

(n° 13) and the Rue de Marivaux in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

History

Opened in 1802, the restaurant was named in honor of the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

, a peace accord signed between Britain and France. In the beginning, its clientele were coachmen and domestic servants but it later became frequented by actors and patrons of the nearby Opera House. In 1822, the new proprietor, Paul Chevreuil, turned it into a fashionable restaurant with a reputation for roasted and grilled meats. It was after the arrival of chef Adolphe Dugléré that the Café Anglais achieved its highest gastronomic reputation. It was then frequented by the wealthy and the aristocracy of Paris. Although the white-faced exterior was austere, the interior was elaborately decorated with furniture in mahogany and walnut woods, and mirrors of gold leaf patina. The building included 22 private rooms and lounges. The London food reviewer and historian Lt.-Col. Nathaniel Newnham-Davis stated "...the Anglais' was a great supping place, the little rabbit hutches of the entresol being the scene of some of the wildest and most interesting parties given by the great men of the Second Empire." The most famous was known as ''Le Grand 16''. Recipes Dugléré created included Germiny Soup, dedicated to the head of the

Banque de France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de ...

, the Comte de Germiny. Dugléré also created Pommes Anna, reputedly named in honor of the famous courtesan of the Second Empire, Anna Deslions. He also composed the menu called the " Three Emperors Dinner" in honor of

Tsar Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland fro ...

Kaiser Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany ...

and

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

for the Exposition Universelle in 1867 in Paris. The restaurant closed in 1913. It has been replaced by a building in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style. The restaurant is mentioned in part 3 of

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

's '' Le Père Goriot'', chapter 10 of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

's ''

Sentimental Education ''Sentimental Education'' (French: ''L'éducation sentimentale'') is an 1869 novel by Gustave Flaubert. The story focuses on the romantic life of a young man named Frédéric Moreau at the time of the French Revolution of 1848 and the founding o ...

'', chapter 4 in

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

's ''

La Curée '' (English: ''The Kill'') is the 2nd novel in Émile Zola's 20-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart serialised from 1871 to 1872 and published in book form in 1872. It deals with property speculation and the lives of the extremely wealthy Nouveau ...

'', chapter 10 in

's '' Nana'', Chapter 2 of E.V.Lucas' A Wanderer in Paris,

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

's short story "Les Bijoux",

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

's ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

'' (towards the beginning of volume 2, "Within a Budding Grove"), in Umberto Eco's '' The Prague Cemetery'', in '' The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook'', and chapter 20 in

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's ''

The Portrait of a Lady ''The Portrait of a Lady'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' and '' Macmillan's Magazine'' in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular novels and is regarded by cr ...

'' as well as in Karen Blixen's short story "

Babette's Feast ''Babette's Feast'' () is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with f ...

". The title character Babette Hersant was the head chef at the Café Anglais before fleeing to Denmark. It is also mentioned in Henry James’, ''The American'', chapter one (Christopher Newman “supped” there the night before visiting the Louvre).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Anglais (Paris) Buildings and structures in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris Former buildings and structures in Paris 19th century in Paris Coffeehouses and cafés in Paris Restaurants in Paris 1802 establishments in France 1913 disestablishments in France 20th century in Paris