Brasserie Lipp

Brasserie Lipp is a preserve of the Belle Epoque world of 1900. Léonard Lipp opened his brasserie in the 1870's after fleeing Alsace during the Franco-Prussian War. As such, it's menu is typical of that region including beer, sausage, sauerkraut and so forth. It stayed in the family until 1920 when Marcellin Cazas bought it in 1920. In 1958 Cazes was given the Legion of Honor for running the best literary salon in Paris. No wonder the publishers Grasset, Gallimard, and Hachette are nearby. But it has also been a meeting place for television personalities, ministers (it is halfway between the French Senate, and National Assembly), and actors, among others.

Ernest Hemingway also frequented Brasserie Lipp, and in his book A Moveable Feast wrote:

The beer was very cold and wonderful to drink. The pommes à l'huile were firm and marinated and the olive oil delicious. I ground black peper over the potatoes and moistened the bread in the olive oil. After the first heavy draft of beer I drank and ate very slowly. When the pommes à l'huile were gone I ordered another serving of cervelas. This was a sausage like a heavy, wide frankfurter split in two and covered with a special mustard sauce.

I mopped up all the oil and all of the sauce with bread and drank the beer slowly until it began to loose its coldness and finished it and ordered a demi ...