* Meeting the French at Work at the Brasserie Mollard
Posted by Lew Weinstein on August 26, 2010
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Brasserie Mollard
There are hundreds of brasseries in Paris and many of them are utterly stunning. None more so than the Brasserie Mollard at 115, rue Saint Lazare, in the 8th arr. (see http://www.mollard.fr/)
Pat and I, with our friend Nijole, visited Brasserie Mollard as part our our 3rd “Meeting the French at Work” experience. Stephane Malchow was our gracious guide to the interior details created by E. Niermans, also architect of the Hotel Negresco in Nice, the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo and the Moulin Rouge. Each of the magnificent tiles tells a fascinating story. Most were installed when the Mollard opened in 1895. In its 115 years, the Mollard has been owned by just two families.
After seeing the restaurant, I asked if we could also see the kitchen. Stephane was surprised – apparently mosts tours do not include the kitchen – but off we went. What was amazing was the small size of the space used to provide meals for 170 seats, as many as 250 meals a night. We watched the preparation of entrees (in France this is the appetizer not the main course), the shaping of potatoes, and the steaming oven for the fish.
in the kitchen at Brasserie Mollard
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