This is a standard issue neighborhood cafe in a rich neighborhood…read more
Rich means that the establishment is well upholstered.
The decoration is not only tasteful but plush.
Artistic sensibilities rule.
In this case, animal sculptures show up in unexpected locations - including a large giraffe in the center of the dining room.
The house fills with monied locals.
The managers knows most of them by name and attends to their every need.
* * *
The house is run to make money rather than to be a great center of exciting gourmandise.
The menu is small and standardized, although printed in elegant font.
What is offered are the staples of everyday contemporary French cuisine.
Duck a l'orange.
Salad lyonnaise.
Poke and pad thai are now standard items on French restaurant tables.
They have two or three versions of those.
The menu never changes.
* * *
Examination of other restaurants in the neighborhood shows very similar nice rooms ... with nearly identical menus.
Everyone wants their pave du thon. Everyone wants their ile flottante for dessert.
Each room is more charming than the one you just saw.
* * *
These restaurants are likely to be partially industrial.
Industrialized food in France can be very upscale.
Think about flying first class on Air Emirates.
The food will be absolutely magnificent.
However, that food will be prepared in an on-the-ground airline kitchen which will mass produce wonderful first class food for all of Air Emirates flights out of their hubs.
France has the equivalent for upscale cafes, where a restauranteur can buy perfect canards a l'orange, or perfect pates en croute from a commercial supplier.
Because salad greens and tartares have to be absolutely fresh and high quality, the purveyor sees that such highly perishable goods are reliably delivered to clients' kitchens, in a form suitable for rapid serving.
The beef or the salmon for a tartare would come in a single serving unit, in packaging designed for maximum freshness, to be ground in the kitchen just before serving, with a standard flavoring and garnishing package to be added at the very last minute.
The rules of French restaurants require that some items be made absolutely from scratch. Innovation is also appreciated
So while I do not know for sure, I suspect that what is served at Le Splendide is a mix of
a) premade-from-presupplied-fine ingredients
b) half-to-three-quarters-premade-also-with-fine ingredients
c) If need be, a few all locally-made.
The house then concentrates on
a) decoration so that each establishment feels unique, beautiful and has a personality.
b) high quality service.
Le Splendid fits this formula to a T.
So do nearly all of the restaurants around it.
The formula works.
All of these cafes were filled for Sunday lunch with regular patrons who were clearly enjoying themselves.
* * *
Le Splendid and its neighbors are in Brotteaux, a stylish neighborhood near the elegant nineteenth century Gare de Brotteaux.
I am staying a mile away in Charpennes in a North African neighborhood with some gentrifiers.
The restaurants in Brotteaux are amazingly similar to the restaurants in Charpennes.
In Charpennes, the standard neighborhood restaurant is a kebab house.
There are many up and down the main commercial street.
They all feature the same menu of all veal kebabs, merguez, hamburgers and tacos.
At any hour of the day, they are being patronized by locals who are just hanging out.
Management knows the locals and there are long standing relationships of friendship.
The execution on the standard items that the customer wants to see are excellent.
(I don't think much of the steaks served as part of steak frites in the rich part of town.
I don't think much of the mass market hamburgers served in the poor part of town.
Everything else tends to be pretty good.)
In both cases, the restaurants are served by standard suppliers.
The kebab houses' suppliers have to be halal.
Halal meat is first rate.
The suppliers of upscale cafes also have to provide first rate inputs.
It is a fierce point of pride in a kebab house that each establishment makes its own kebabs from scratch.
I am sure there are comparable made from scratch items in Brotteaux cafes.
In both neighborhoods, the cafes/kebab houses are a staple of the communal public life of the city.
I like the kebabs of the kebab houses better than the duck a l'orange of the upscale cafes.
The kebab houses have cheap tables and fluorescent lighting.
The Brotteaux cafes are easier on the eye.
They both capture the soul of the neighborhood.
The kebab houses may have a little more soul.
