Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Pharamond restaurant, located at 24 rue de la Grande-Truanderie in the Halles district of Paris, is one of the oldest gourmet establishments in the capital. Founded in 1832 by Pierre Heutte, grandfather of Alexander Pharamond, he moved to Les Halles to offer a provincial cuisine, with a speciality that became emblematic: Caen's fashionable tripe, served since 1877. The place, originally named The little Normande, embodies the Norman heritage of its founders, as evidenced by its facade imitating the typical wood sections of eastern Normandy, added in the 1930s.

The interior decor, completely renovated for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, is a masterpiece of ceramics and glass paste mirrors, made by the Picard and Cie workshop. He staged an iconography dedicated to Caen's fashionable tripes, with painted panels and earthenware, including a Norman in traditional costume. This decor, classified as a historic monument since 1989, consists of a large room on the ground floor, a living room on the first floor accessible by a rotating staircase, and small private lounges under the roofs. The establishment, which is still in operation, perpetuates a culinary tradition that is nearly two centuries old.

The Pharamond marked popular culture, serving as a setting for literary and cinematographic works. In Maigret and the Man by himself of Georges Simenon, a key scene of the investigation takes place in this restaurant of the Halles. In 1996, Claude Lelouch made a memorable scene in the cinema of Men, Women: instructions for use, highlighting his Moleskin benches and his typical atmosphere. These apparitions testify to his status as a Parisian institution, at the crossroads of gastronomic and artistic history.

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