Tour d'Argent
Encyclopedia
La Tour d'Argent is a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The restaurant's own site claims that it was founded in 1582 and frequented by Henri IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
. However, neither the restaurant nor any cabaret, inn, etc. at that site, nor its supposed founder (Rourteau) appear to be mentioned in any period source.
The first mention of the restaurant may be in Baedeker's 1860 guide to Paris, which mentions a restaurant associated with a "Hotel of the Tour d'Argent": "Entre Notre-Dame et le jardin des Plantes, au quai de la Tournelle, vis-à-vis du pont de ce nom (pi. H, 7), il y a le petit hôtel et restaurant Lecoq; Hôtel de la Tour d'argent, un peu éloigné, il est vrai, mais bien tenu et bon marché (chambre, 2 fr., beefsteak, 1 fr.). En face d'une école de natation, qui a l'avantage de ne pas être encore encombrée et emprisonnée par toutes les ordures de Paris." ("Between Notre Dame and the jardin des Plantes, on the quai de la Tournelle, facing the bridge of this name, there is a little hotel and the restaurant Lecoq; Hôtel de la Tour d'argent, a bit out of the way, it is true, but well kept and cheap (room, 2 francs, beefsteak, 1 franc). Facing a swimming school, which has the advantage of not yet being encumbered and imprisoned by all the filth of Paris.")
Duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
, especially the pressed duck
Pressed duck
Pressed duck is a traditional French dish. The complex dish was developed in the 19th century in the Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris, France, and consists of various parts of a duck served in a sauce made of its blood and marrow, which is extracted by way of a press...
, is the specialty (Canard à la presse, Caneton à la presse, Caneton Tour d'Argent). The restaurant raises its ducks on its own farm. Diners who order the duck receive a postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
with the bird's serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
, now well over 1 million. The restaurant's wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
cellar, guarded around the clock, contains more than 450,000 bottles whose value was estimated in 2009 at 25 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s (£22.5 million). Some 15,000 wines are offered to diners on a 400-page list. The dining room has an excellent view of the river Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
and Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
.
The restaurant is owned and operated by the Terrail family. André Terrail is owner and manager, having taken over in 2003 from his father Claude, who died in 2006 at 88. Claude Terrail had run the restaurant since inheriting it from his father André in 1947. In 1996 the Guide Michelin, reduced the restaurant's grade from the top three stars to two, and in 2006, to one.
The restaurant inspired scenes in the 2007 Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
movie Ratatouille
Ratatouille (film)
Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the eighth film produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005...
, and received an "unexpected boost" from the film.
Tour d'Argent is mentioned by Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
in "In Search of Lost Time" in the volume "Within a Budding Grove
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower".