Exclusive French restaurant is selling off its wares in a bid to make half a million dollars
THE 400-year-old restaurant that claims to have debuted the fork and inspired Disney’s Ratatouille is auctioning a slice of culinary history.
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Despite being held high on a culinary pedestal for centuries as the crème de la crème of fine dining establishments, French restaurant La Tour D’Argent has had a rough trot of late.
The celebrated 400-year-old diner on the banks of the Seine River claims to be the place where the humble fork first made its way into polite society back in the 16th century, and has welcomed a seemingly endless trail of notable diners from King Henry IV and Franklin D Roosevelt to Marlene Dietrich and Charlie Chaplin. Even “Brangelina” have been papped out the front after a romantic dinner at The Silver Tower.
In 2007 the exclusive eatery was even portrayed on the big screen when Disney based Rataouille on La Tour.
But while it once boasted three precious Michelin stars (the holy grail of culinary ticks of approval), it lost one star in 1996 and then another by 2006.
So in a shock move the restaurant was recently shut down for 15 days — the first closure in living memory — and has reopened this week with a facelift, a new head chef Philippe Labbé, a reinvented 400-page wine list and a grand plan to make a little extra cash.
In what is shaping up to be a gastronomic garage sale to make any dedicated foodie weak at the knees, La Tour D’Argent has dusted out its attic and rifled through the old cellar to come up with an auction catalogue that could bring in more than half a million dollars.
The restaurant, which claims to have first opened its doors in 1582, is putting more than 3000 pieces of tableware, artefacts and bourgeois booze under the hammer on May 9 and 10.
“We’re going to be under great scrutiny in the beginning of May,” said André Terrail, CEO and owner of La Tour.
“But this is an evolution rather than a revolution. We have collections of silverware, China, even furniture, that simply do not belong to the future of La Tour d’Argent,” he told Wine Spectator.
The reimagining comes at a time when the restaurant, which has long been revered for its strictly traditional take on all things French cuisine, has struggled to compete with the gentrification of European dining.
Auction estimates have items priced from $75 for a 116-year-old silver oil lamp, to a “duck press” which has attracted interest worldwide and is expected to exceed its $5700 to $8750 estimate. Serious connoisseurs of French cuisine will know that La Tour is famous for its duck degustation menu which involves five courses, costs $300 and rewards diners with a serialised duck certificate, of which more than one million have been issued.
More than 100 bottles of spirits and liquors are also being offloaded in the grand sale. Known for its mammoth collection of vino, La Tour has an inventory of 350,000 bottles, with more than 14,000 selections in a hefty wine carte that weighs a whopping 8kg.
“Obviously, we’re sad to see them go, but spirits are less consumed now then they once were,” said wine director David Ridgway, who has been with the restaurant since 1981 (the wine program’s Francophile pride is so strong that in Ridgway’s first 10 years, his British nationality was kept secret).
Among the stash to go on sale there will also be three bottles of Clos de Griffier Cognac from 1788. Each bottle is estimated to sell for between $30,000 and $37,500 each.
“The way they made Cognacs then and the way they make Cognacs now is not the same. Cognacs used to be more ‘pure spirits’; there was no colouring added. Even though these are very old, they’re very pale. It’s quite amazing,” Mr Ridgway said.
The auction, which will reduce La Tour d’Argent’s stock of the 228-year-old cognac to about 15 bottles.
Mr Ridgeway told Bloomberg the current high prices the cognac commands make serving it by the glass in the restaurant “a little ridiculous,” especially when a bottle is only good for about six months after being opened.
“We’re cutting ties with the 18th and 19th century, and moving forward into the 21st,” said Ridgway. “I’ve said farewell to the bottles and kissed them goodbye.”
Other souvenirs on the auction list include more than 2400 wineglasses — all labelled, like the duck press, with La Tour d’Argent’s logo, silver asparagus tongs priced at around 87 to 130 euro, crystal ducks — pieces of furniture including a coloured screen depicting the view of the Seine from the restaurant’s dining room, and a large carpet from 1900.
Bidding is currently open online and the full collection can be viewed at www.artcurial.com.
Originally published as Exclusive French restaurant is selling off its wares in a bid to make half a million dollars
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