The precision theatre of Parisian dining has entered an era of warm nostalgia

"Past a sign for a family waterpark, a door opens onto an homage to fin-de-siècle Paris. Chandeliers are reflected in gilt-edged mirrors; there is a chorus line of lobsters and yards of fromage. Every so often, a waiter in a dinner suit flambées a crepe Suzette with a shock of flames, like a big top fire-eater. This is fine dining as buffet."

"Like many Anglais, my image of French cuisine was partly formed by flâneur-like wanderings through the pages of Larousse - learning of, for instance, the exact lunch menu that André Malraux enjoyed in 1933 at Drouant, or of a long-gone brasserie in the 9th that was known for its beer laced with absinthe. And later, peering through the windows of ancien regime restaurants such as Lapérouse and Le Grand Véfour, into the latter's golden mirage of Louis XVI-style garlands and Roman-inspired frescoes."

Paris and its surrounding regions remain a gourmand hotspot with some restaurants attracting pilgrimage. Examples include L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges (Paul Bocuse), Mirazur and Les Grands Buffets, the latter offering an opulent, fin-de-siècle buffet experience with chandeliers, gilt mirrors, lobsters, yards of fromage and flambéed crêpes Suzette. That buffet spectacle delivers playful excess but diverges from the classical fine-dining principles associated with Antonin Carême and Auguste Escoffier. Nostalgic perceptions of French cuisine formed through leisurely culinary reading and window-gazing at historic brasseries and grand restaurants reveal Louis XVI-style decor and Roman-inspired frescoes that evoke traditional Parisian dining culture.

Read at CN Traveller