the butcher shop elevated to an art form by Slavik in the heart of Les Halles
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Vanilla lacquered ceiling in harmony with the cement tile floor. "Butcher block" tables.
Re-enchanting a temple of meat
In the 1980s, when the excellent butcher Christian Dubois asked Slavik to reimagine Le Louchebem, this legendary meat establishment located in the heart of Les Halles, the goal was not to “modernize” it, but to elevate it without betraying its essence. For this visionary decorator, every space must tell its story with flair. He drew from the soul of the Halles district, the former belly of Paris, and from the tradition of butchers—the “louchebems” in slang—to create a décor that is both populist and theatrical.
Rather than erasing the carnal identity of the place, he celebrates it. He transforms Le Louchebem into a theater of meat, where the codes of butchery become material for scenography, and where one comes as much for fine fare as for the atmosphere.
A carnal cabaret, between rusticity and warmth
Far from distant refinement, the ambiance conceived by Slavik is warm, lively, vibrant. He restores Les Halles to its central role: a place of passage, encounter, dining, and conversation. The atmosphere of Le Louchebem is that of a popular bistro elevated to a higher level—a nod to Parisian wit, direct service, and communal tables.
In this place, one does not whisper: one laughs, shares, carves. And yet, nothing is left to chance. The décor supports the atmosphere without freezing it. It gives structure to conviviality, a nobility to simple gestures: slicing, serving, savoring.
Slavik: “Clean, practical, raw like a wholesale butcher shop. We’ll eat in shirtsleeves, feet in the sawdust. The first-floor parquet will be in end-grain hornbeam, like butcher blocks, crimson and white walls, no-nonsense lighting, molded wood armchairs in the style of a department head under Courteline; “carnivorous” paintings on panels, old butcher shop grilles as screens, photos of those we love, a butchery library and museum, a clientele without pretense, and the hope of diligent service.“
On the first floor with red lacquered walls, Milanese public light fixtures mounted upside down and “Three Breasts” fixtures derived from Italian lighting.
On the ground floor, cut industrial bowls into which Slavik had Holophane glass inserts fitted. Tables designed like butcher blocks in end-grain wood.
Location
31, rue Berger, Les Halles, 75001 Paris
Le Louchébem according to Slavik: “Clean, practical, raw like a wholesale butcher shop.
We’ll eat in shirtsleeves, feet in the sawdust. The parquet on the first floor will be in end-grain hornbeam, like the blocks.
Everywhere crimson and white walls, no-nonsense lighting, molded wood armchairs in the style of a department head under Courteline; “carnivorous” paintings on panels, old butcher shop grilles as screens, photos of those we love, a butchery library and museum, a clientele without pretense, and the hope of diligent service,” recounts Philippe Couderc in Minute (June 6, 1986).
