La Coupole -- Paris 14
La Coupole is one of the historic Montparnasse brasseries.
It opened in 1927, and some time ago, I suppose in the 1970s, there was an ugly extension built above it that has always put me off.
As with other Montparnasse brasseries, such as Le Select across the street from La Coupole, the use of neon was a major innovation in the 1920s.
However, last year I became aware of La Coupole as a major art deco monument in Montparnasse.
In particular, artists in the area would offer to paint columns in exchange for meals. The paintings had long been covered over, but now have been again uncovered and are part of the decor. A sampling:
La Coupole was also the first restaurant in Paris to feature an American bar:
Despite (or perhaps because of) all this, I never considered La Coupole a location that would be serving anything more than standard-level brasserie fare. But that assumption proved to be wrong, both on this visit and also an earlier one last fall.
The diners were majority French, but there were also Americans and other tourists, with ages ranging from twenties to seventies, and a few children in tow, too.
The carte, the front of which preserves the art deco theme of the restaurant:
and the back of which presents a little of the history of La Coupole:
The wine list is well-chosen and reasonable in its markups. The wines by the glass and carafe:
For starters, my two companions took oysters, in particular six Creuses de Bretagne Belondine Cadoret n°4 from Brittany and six of the rare Spéciales Gillardeau n°3. I sampled one of the latter and it was excellent:
I took the “shrimp cocktail”, a salade of shrimp, avocado, lettuce:
Everything was fresh and delicious.
With this, we had a carafe of very good Alsatian Riesling “Les Ecaillers” from Léon Beyer.
For their mains, my companions both took the mussels cooked in Petit Chabllis with french fries on the side:
Portions were generous and my companions were very happy with the dish.
I took the smallest (and most classic) of the four choucroutes on offer, and even that proved to be a formidable amount:
With this course we took a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Noir from Meyer-Fonné:
Alsatian producers have been profiting from the change in climate and increased knowledge in the vineyards and cellar to make excellent Pinot Noir in recent years, and that certainly was the case with this wine which was balanced, deep, and flavorful. We had no problem finishing it.
We had no room for dessert, notwithstanding several tempting offerings.
The bill for three people:
For me, the real reason to go to La Coupole is for the history and the art there, but the good food and wine, excellent service, and overall happy vibe of the customers makes it a delightful occasion.
La Coupole
102, bd du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris
Tel: 01 43 20 14 20
Sunday and Monday 8am-11pm, Tuesday through Saturday 8am-midnight
Métro: Vavin (line 4), Montparnasse-Bienvenue (lines 4, 6, 12, 13)