L’Assiette au bœuf, Champs-Élysées
“It is grandiose and wild, certainly one of the most beautiful decors in the world” according to Gault & Millau, in a “Napoleon III return from Mexico style” according to Slavik, as read in Le Point regarding this Champs-Élysées restaurant inaugurated in 1974.
First of all, no reservations are taken. The restaurant is open three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It offers continuous service from noon to 1 AM. Furthermore, it is beautiful, the food is good, and it is inexpensive. Everyone can go there, from office employees to busy executives, from cinema-goers who don’t want to miss their screening to those just coming out of one. There is even an express menu where one can have a meal in twenty minutes.
Slavik works on the layout and decor of spaces that must be attractive, welcoming, luxurious, and functional;
The efficiency of the service depends on it, and the staff will be put to the test due to an exceptional turnover of 7.5 customers per seat per day during the first months of opening.
The decor imagined by Slavik is reminiscent of the Palais des Mirages, with walls in faux red and gold marble, immense metal palm trees covered in pineapples with plumes shimmering with light, and a profusion of lamps hanging from the ceiling like enormous bouquets of nasturtiums. The palm grove is 5 meters high and is located under a stained-glass dome. Colonial fans quietly circulate the air.
Slavik meticulously studies the functionality of the kitchens, equipped by Charvet-Voiron for the ovens, stoves, and grills; by Hobart for the stainless steel furniture, freezers, and dishwashers; and by Cimbali for the coffee machines.
The waitresses in long black aprons with straps, their hair hidden under a white piqué bonnet, look as if they have stepped straight out of The Diary of a Chambermaid.
The staff is cheerful, the atmosphere is lively, and the customers are happy to be part of this celebration!
The menu created by Michel Oliver has been simplified to the extreme, offering a choice of 3 appetizers, 3 main courses, and a selection of 13 desserts for a fixed price. The specialty, served after a salad, is a tender entrecôte steak topped with a shallot sauce and accompanied by crispy matchstick fries.
The meat is supplied by Mr. Bissonnet, the butcher who supplies the Élysée Palace, and the fries are homemade.
The gamble paid off. Success is evident: customers are queuing, and the press is full of praise for Slavik and Michel Oliver. One must imagine the scale of L’Assiette au bœuf on the Champs-Élysées with 6,650 meals served per week. L’Assiette au bœuf would mark an economic, sociological, and consumerist turning point in the history of Parisian dining.
Other chains would follow the same concept: Bistrot de la gare and Bistro romain.
Three Assiette au Bœuf locations (1976 figures):
123, avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8th
- 145 seats • 950 meals/day on average
- average bill: 33.80 francs –
22, rue Guillaume-Apollinaire, opposite the church
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris 6th
- 156 seats • 750 meals/day on average
- average bill: 33.80 francs –
9, boulevard des Italiens, Paris 9th
- 152 seats • 600 meals/day on average
- average bill: 33.80 francs –
