La Grande Cascade, a restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne since 1900

La Grande Cascade, a restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne, opened in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle. It occupies a pavilion at the foot of the Grande Cascade, the artificial waterfall Napoleon III wanted near the Longchamp racecourse.

In the 1850s the emperor asked Baron Haussmann, Adolphe Alphand and Gabriel Davioud to turn the wood into an English-style park of lakes, rockeries, hills and pavilions. The one by the waterfall served as a halt for the emperor out hunting, then as a stylish stop for the aristocracy on their promenades.

Reworked in the spirit of the Belle Époque, the pavilion keeps its glass and iron structure, its great skylight painted with a trompe-l’œil sky, its chandeliers, gilding and the canopy over its terrace. It has held a Michelin star since 1965, and Frédéric Robert, trained under Alain Senderens, ran the kitchen for more than twenty years.

Set apart from the paths, it serves seasonal haute cuisine, game, soufflés and poultry en croûte, and hosts lunches, dinners and private receptions under its glass roof or on its terrace.