PROPOSE a special meal out in Paris and it’s automatically assumed you’ve got a chic brasserie in mind, somewhere with at least one Michelin star perhaps – attentive, but preferably not ostentatious.
But here’s a completely different option: one of the city’s most historic restaurants, dating back to 1896, in a listed building accessed through a little courtyard off the Rue du Faubourg in Montmartre.
Its name is Restaurant Chartier, but over the front door you can still make out its previous name, Bouillon Chartier – because at the turn of the 19th century this restaurant made sure the blue-collar workers of the quartier could eat a hot meal for just a few sous every day.
In those days, bouillon – a soupy mixture of meat and vegetables – was a staple of the working classes, and that, more often than not, was what they got here.
Times have changed. Chartier is now a favourite haunt – particularly on Saturdays, when lunches are longer – for well-heeled Parisians, curious visitors from La France Profonde, and the occasional foreigner. But happily, it hasn’t been over-gentrified.
You can still see the little drawers where the locals stowed their personal cutlery; the huge mirrors and ancient chandeliers are still there; and the waiters still wear le rondin, the traditional black waistcoat with a long white apron.
I visited some time back with a group of friends, including a young journalist, Catherine Glasheen, doing post-graduate work in Paris. I break no confidence when I tell you that Catherine ordered the steak tartare, not realising that the meat would be raw – but gamely demolished the lot, only admitting her horror later.
I break no confidence because in her course magazine, Le Canard Déraciné, she writes about that meal under the heading: "Faites Attention au Steak Tartare!" Another step towards immortality for Restaurant Chartier.
www.restaurant-chartier.com