Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, in the square gardens in the eastern part of the
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...
in the
8th arrondissement, is one of the oldest restaurants in Paris. Its long history places it on the Champs-Élysées before the street's beautification.
In a two-story pavilion with gardens, Ledoyen is considered to be one of Paris's best gourmet restaurants, and boasts three Michelin stars.
The building is owned by the City of Paris. It is operated by the company Carré des Champs Elysées.
History
Initially, it began in 1779 as a very small inn named ''Au Dauphin''.
It was near the Place Louis XV (current
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.
It was the s ...
), near the
Café des Ambassadeurs
The Café des Ambassadeurs, also known as Les Ambassadeurs or Les Ambass', was a café-concert located in the Champs-Élysées district, at 1 Avenue Gabriel, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, which opened around 1830 and closed in 1929. ''Les A ...
(between
Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Avenue or Avenues may refer to:
Roads
* Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees)
* Avenue Road, Bangalore
* Avenue Road, Lo ...
and the current Avenue Gabriel). At that time it was a country inn on the outskirts of Paris and cows grazed in the fields outside.
On 4 August 1791, Pierre-Michel Ledoyen, a son of caterers, rented it and established it as a formal restaurant.
Ledoyen, a dishwasher in his early years,
renamed the restaurant after himself in 1814, and it was owned by the Desmazures for many years. In 1842, architect
Jacques Hittorff, responsible for the development of the gardens of the Champs-Élysées, transferred the restaurant to its present location.
Six years later, it was repaired and renovated following a fire.
Today, the building's walls are owned by the city of Paris. It received three
Michelin Star
The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...
status under
Christian Le Squer since 2002.
It is operated by
Yannick Alléno, who in his first year achieved three Michelin stars.
Architecture and fittings

The original building was , with white walls and green shutters.
When the restaurant was relocated in 1784 it was to a two-story pavilion with terraced gardens,
designed in the
Neoclassical style. The 1886 oil-on-canvas, ''Scandinavian Artists' Lunch at Cafe Ledoyen, Paris, on Varnishing Day'' by the Swedish painter
Hugo Birger
Hugo Birger (until 1878 Hugo Birger Peterson) (12 January 1854 – 17 June 1887) was a Swedish painter.
Biography
Youth
Born in Stockholm, his father was printmaker Sven August Peterson who, among other things, printed securities. By accom ...
suggests something of the appearance of the restaurant in the late 19th century.
Its features include many huge windows, ornate ceilings,
and historic second floor rooms.
Dining areas include outdoor seating, interior ''salons'',
and a 1950s-style grill room.
Notable patrons
During the late 18th century, it was a haunt of
Louis de Saint-Just
Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 176710 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a ...
and
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...
and they dined there on 26 July 1794, two days before their execution.
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
and
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine Bonaparte (, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 Janua ...
reportedly met at the restaurant and the restaurant was also a favourite of artists and writers such as
Danton
Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gover ...
,
Marat,
Degas
Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French people, French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.
Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Print ...
,
Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
,
Zola,
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
A mid-19th-century account states that the restaurant was also the breakfast place of duellists, who, after shooting at each other in the
Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...
, reconciled over breakfast at Ledoyen.
See also
*
List of Michelin three starred restaurants
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
Restaurant siteFrench gourmet internet website
{{Restaurants in Paris
Restaurants in Paris
Restaurants established in 1779
Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris
Commercial buildings completed in 1842
Michelin-starred restaurants in France
Champs-Élysées
1779 establishments in France