In the lively 11th arrondissement of Paris, certain addresses alone tell a story of a time. Behind an unassuming facade on Boulevard Parmentier, a bistro that has become legendary is about to turn a huge page in its history. After twenty years of bustling cuisine, noisy evenings, and clients as anonymous as they are famous, Le Chateaubriand has bid farewell to the era imagined by its founding chef, Inaki Aizpitarte.
This Parisian address is beloved by celebrities
When they took over the culinary address in April 2006 with Fred Peneau, no one could have predicted the extent of the phenomenon. At that time, the two men arrived with a simple idea: to break the rules of a sometimes too rigid, too precious, and too silent Parisian gastronomy. Quickly, the restaurant became an unidentifiable culinary object, attracting both fine dining enthusiasts and artists, musicians, filmmakers, and night owls of the capital.
The place quickly gained a unique reputation. In their tribute book dedicated to the establishment, Stéphane Peaucelle-Laurens and François Chevalier summarize the atmosphere of a formula that has become cult: “Very quickly, it became the noisiest restaurant in Paris.” Here, there is no room filled with a religious silence. People laugh, debate, toast loudly, sometimes until late at night.
Philippe Katerine has his routines here
The address almost becomes a character in its own right. Among the familiar faces at the venue, one name often surprises: Jonathan Cohen. Before becoming an essential actor in French comedy, he apparently worked there as a waiter. An anecdote that still feeds the legend of the restaurant and amuses the regulars of this address that is not quite like the others.
Around the tables of Le Chateaubriand, stars come and go over the years without ever really disrupting the spirit of the place. Frances McDormand, Eva Mendes, Bill Murray, the Coen Brothers, Tony Hawk, Johnny Hallyday, and even Zinedine Zidane have taken a seat. Figures from all walks of life seduced by a cuisine that stubbornly refuses conventions. But if there is one regular whose story is particularly intriguing, it is Philippe Katerine.
This restaurant has a great reputation
The artist, who has brushed with death, never hid his attachment to the restaurant or to Inaki Aizpitarte’s culinary universe. He even recounted that a specific dish had deeply impacted his artistic imagination: veal sweetbread enjoyed at Le Chateaubriand. Such a striking experience that he claimed, with his usual whimsy, that his music had changed after that meal, even evoking a sensation of an out-of-body experience.
Because at Le Chateaubriand, nothing has ever been truly traditional. Inaki Aizpitarte’s cuisine was built on instinct, between raw ingredients, unexpected combinations, and ever-changing menus. The plates constantly evolve, refusing fixed recipes. Even the wine cellar played a part in the myth: the best winemakers in France found their place there, helping to transform the address into a temple of natural wine. All elements that Philippe Katerine, who has battled illness, adores.
