Vagenende, a brasserie on boulevard Saint-Germain since 1904

Vagenende, a brasserie on boulevard Saint-Germain, has welcomed guests since 1904 in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It began as a Chartier bouillon, opened in 1902 on the ground floor of an 1885 building put up soon after the boulevard was extended.

The Art Nouveau decor dates from those first years: panelling and period mirrors still dress the room. The restaurateur Rougeot bought it from the Chartier family, then sold it in 1920 to Monsieur Vagenende, who gave it his name.

The façade and the rooms with their decor were listed as historic monuments by an order of 9 December 1983. For more than a century the house has kept the soul of the great Parisian brasserie, its white tablecloths and its woodwork. John Adamson and Clive Jackson’s 2023 novel Footloose in France sets a dinner here in the early 1970s.

On the Left Bank, it serves traditional French cooking: Burgundy snails, onion soup gratinée, beef bourguignon, duck confit, bouillabaisse and quiche lorraine, made with fresh seasonal produce. The duck confit, cooked slowly in its own fat, keeps a crisp skin.