At 48 degrees, 52 minutes and 3 seconds north latitude, and 2 degrees, 19 minutes and 20 seconds east longitude, in the capital of France, Paris, at Royale street number 3, lies one of the most famous and legendary restaurants in the world. Everybody knows about it, but few from our corner of the world have visited it.
Franz Lehár took operetta lovers there during the third act of The Merry Widow, theater enthusiasts were transported there thanks to George Feydeau and his comedy The Lady from Maxim’s, and we were also able to visit it via cinema screens with Woody Allen and his movie Midnight in Paris, or Minelli’s Gigi. Yes, we’re talking about the Parisian restaurant Maxim’s.
It all began with a scandal
In the 17th century, the house belonged to the Duke de Richelieu, the famous premier of the king Louis XIII., and the enemy of Dumas’ three musketeers. After that, the Italian Imoda family built an ice-cream parlor there, which was very popular until an unfortunate moment, when the owner, celebrating the centennial anniversary of the conquest of the Bastille, decked out the front of the parlor with banners in the colors of different countries. Including the German flag. Let’s remind ourselves that in the year 1870, France lost the war with the Prussian Confederacy, lost Alsace and Lorraine, and at the same time had to pay five billion gold francs to the victor, which meant a quarter of the country’s GDP at the time. The incredible humiliation was still ubiquitous, and so this unlucky initiative brought about a wave of germanophobia, and an angry mob not only ransacked the establishment, but the guests stopped coming into the “pro-German” ice-cream parlor. Master Imoda, disgusted by the violence, then decides to sell the establishment to one of the waiters working in the nearby American bar Reynold’s. His name is Maxime Gallard, and he sets out to make his dream come true.
Maria Callas and Aristoteles Onassis with friends at their favorite table.
Just a simple bistro at the beginning
The first clients were coachmen, coming here from the nearby Concord Square. The food was cheap and Rue Royale wide enough for them to park their fiacres. However, its strategic placement between the Paris Opera and the most famous avenue in the world, Champs-Elysées, is ideal for an entirely different kind of clientele. The legend was born when, on her way back from the opening of the most famous horse race called Prix Diane, the stunning actress and courtesan Irma de Montigny stopped by. Charmed by the atmosphere of the place, she declared: “I will help you make your establishment the most visited one in Paris!” She remained true to her promise, and thanks to Irma and her friends, representing the golden youth of the end of the 19th century, Maxim’s became an elegant and fashionable meeting place of the cream of Paris society. Artists, journalists, dancers, but also writers and philosophers all met and danced at Maxim’s until the morning. Champagne ran like a river, and even though the fans of the beautiful Irma were generous, they often forgot to pay their bills. And so when Maxime Gaillard died prematurely at thirty years of age, he was indebted beyond belief. His partner Eugéne Cornuché bought his share from the widow Gaillard, completely renovated the restaurant in 1900 in the Art Nouveau style, and started creating a gastronomical legend.
Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger, Pierre Cardin (1982)
An Art Nouveau masterpiece
The new owner asked the artists from the Ecole de Nancy to do the renovation, where the best Art Nouveau designers were born. A glass ceiling, murals, mahogany and brass and bronze details everywhere. With the arrival of electricity, they installed a Tiffany lamp at every table, and a piano, complementing the atmosphere, was a matter of course. Another genius move to attract the cream of the crop were the beautiful courtesans, which Cornuché placed by the windows, to be easily spotted. Those attracted guests like a magnet, and soon enough, Maxim’s started attracting the elite society not only from the art world, but also crowned and noble heads from all over Europe. The best sommeliers, best chefs, entertainers... Maxim’s is becoming the theater scene of the Parisian society, and is full to bursting every night.
Valentino Garavani, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Moreau, Alain Delon (2000)
The exclusivity of the most famous restaurant in the world
In 1932, Octave Vaudable becomes the new owner, and he starts mercilessly selecting his clientele, preferring regulars, all the better if they’re rich and famous. Among his clients were Jean Cocteau, Christian Dior, or Edward VIII, or rather Windsor, with his wife Wallis Simpson. A flawless dress code was strictly required of the clientele, and dress-up Fridays were even established, which meant the men in tuxedos, and the ladies in evening dresses. During the Second World War, the German occupiers appointed Otto Horcher the boss of the restaurant, and Maxim’s became the favorite Parisian restaurant of the Nazi high leadership and their collaborators. Herman Göring dined here on the 28th of July 1940. The French resistance closed down Maxim’s for these collaborators, and opened it once more in the year 1946, under the leadership of Louis Vaudable. After 1950, many famous people came here, including Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, John Travolta danced here with Sylvie Vartan, Barbra Streisand, Rita Hayworth, Alain Delon, Jean Paul Belmondo, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso... Onassis and Callas had their own table here. All of them in their most elegant suits and dresses. And so when one day a barefoot beauty entered the establishment, a scandal erupted. It was none other than Brigitte Bardot! On another note is the story of a certain emir and his family who, when midnight struck on Christmas Eve in 1992, gifted everybody present with diamond- inlaid watches and jewelry.
A lounge with a wealth of stories to tell.
THE PROPERTY OF AN ELEGANT GENIUS
You didn‘t come to Maxim‘s to eat, but to see and be seen. When the Michelin representatives dared strip the establishment of one star, Louis Vaudable decided not to even include the restaurant in their catalog, declaring that “the real stars sit at my tables”. For many years, the famous fashion designer Pierre Cardin was a frequent visitor of this legendary establishment. One day in the year 1981, the Vaudables invited him to dinner and offered to sell Maxim‘s to him. it is said that as the evening went by and the bottles of Champagne emptied one after the other, the designer got over his initial displeasure, and eventually bought the establishment for a price that was never disclosed. There are whispers of a 20 million dollar price tag, though. Pierre‘s intent wasn‘t to leave the fashion industry for gastronomy, but rather to keep the restaurant in French hands, because a contract with a certain Saudi Arabian gentleman was already being prepared. Cardin transformed Maxim‘s into a gastronomic Art Nouveau and Belle Epoque museum. He said about his beloved restaurant: “Maxim‘s is a mirror of Parisian life. More of a theater than a restaurant. It‘s a French brand. Paris is defined by two places - the Eiffel tower, and Maxim’s!”
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