La Mascotte, brasserie on Rue des Abbesses since 1889

La Mascotte, the brasserie on Rue des Abbesses in Montmartre, began in 1889 as a small two-storey hotel, Le Pompéa. On the ground floor was a café in the popular Parisian tradition, where everyone could meet.

In the 1930s the owner, le père Teissier, had three storeys added and created a second hotel, L’Antinéa, which sheltered the love affair of Édith Piaf and her pianist. In the 1950s local shopkeepers, craftsmen and artists gathered around the long counter and the four billiard tables.

After a first takeover by the Compte family, Irène and Maurice Campion, from the Aveyron, bought the house in 1965. At first only sandwiches were served, then Irène began cooking her own dishes. Their son Thierry took over in 1992: the billiard tables went, and seafood became the speciality. In 2011 he opened L’Écaille next door, and in 2012 the décor took on an Art Deco style.

Thierry Campion now runs the house with his son Guillaume, and Michou was a regular for years. On the large terrace, at the bar or in the back room, it serves oysters, seafood platters, sole carved at the table and cheeses from the Auvergne and Aveyron, in the 18th arrondissement.