Polidor, bistro on Rue Monsieur-le-Prince since 1845

Polidor, the bistro on Rue Monsieur-le-Prince near the Odéon, began in 1845 as a crémerie, a dairy selling cheese, eggs and cream, hence the name crémerie-restaurant it still bears. In 1890 its owner turned it into a restaurant in its own right.

In the nineteenth century penniless artists such as the poet Germain Nouveau praised its cooking. Verlaine, Rimbaud, who lived on the street, then Gide, Joyce, Artaud and Boris Vian ate here. Hemingway, a neighbour in the 1920s, recalls his dinners at Polidor in A Moveable Feast. From 1948 to 1975 the Collège de ’Pataphysique met in the back room.

It has carried its present name since the early twentieth century, and its shopfront has not changed since. The room keeps its shared tables, panelling and a sketch by Pierre Dac, La Recette de la sauce aux câpres sans câpres. In 2011 Woody Allen had his hero meet Hemingway here in Midnight in Paris.

On the Left Bank, between the Odéon and the Luxembourg Gardens, it welcomes Sorbonne students, locals and visitors every day of the year. Diners share tables over traditional French cooking, and La Cave du Polidor offers its wines.