Offer low cost nutrients to the many Paris workers: this is, in the XIXe century, the avant-garde idea of the Dutch company. In 1828, she opened a set of small restaurants offering boiled beef broths, in different points in the capital, to a farming working population. The concept of the broth has just been born and, with it, an early form of standardization of low -cost meals. But, in 1854, the company disappeared. It is at this point that the one emerged that the Annals will retain as the father of the Bouillons: Baptiste-Adolphe Duval.
In the 1850s, Baptiste-Adolphe Duval had a butcher’s shop located on rue Coquillère, in Paris (Ier borough). As its customers only buy “beautiful songs”, Duval is looking for a means of using “low meat” not sold. He then thought of preparing a broth made with the low pieces of beef, as well as boiled beef, of high quality.
This is how he opened, in 1854, an establishment, rue de la Monnaie, in the ier District of Paris. He offers hot, comforting and cheap dishes there at the most modest scholarships, including the many workers in the halls, the “belly of Paris”. With the work of embellishment and modernization of the city by Baron Haussmann, thousands of workers came from all over France to work in the capital: these are all mouths to feed. The success is immediate.
The ancestor of fast food
Baptiste-Adolphe Duval then opened other points of sale in the capital, including, in 1855, a sumptuous establishment with iron and cast iron architecture fitted out in a huge 800m hall2 at 6, rue de Montesquieu (ier arrondissement), not far from the Louvre. This building, which can accommodate up to 500 people, provides continuous service performed by waitresses recognizable by their black dress, their white apron and their tulle cap. The latter also called the “little good” will symbolize the Duval broths and will be drawn as well by artists like Auguste Renoir as evoked by writers like Joris-Karl Huysmans.
New customers, attracted by the right value for money, the flexibility of schedules and fixed prices, appears. It consists of the middle classes and the petty bourgeoisie. The choice of dishes develops over time: you can order pot-au-feu, bourguignon beef, roast calf, but also oysters, poultry or fish.
These places – which take the name of “broths” – are very clean places, symbols of modernity. They will quickly become a full -fledged restaurant concept with simple cuisine, made of quality products. They are considered to be part of the precursors of fast food.
A new economic model
The economic success of Bouillons Duval is mainly due to its stock management model. They operate as a restoration chain and apply economies of scale thanks to their own supply methods, their bread production, their butchers, etc. In 1867, Baptiste-Adolphe Duval created the “Anonymous Company of Duval establishments” with nine branches. In 1878, there will be sixteen, then dozens in the capital at the end of the 19th centurye century.
The success of the Bouillons Duval is emulated. But if Paris counts around 400 in 1900, they actually encompass a variety of heterogeneous establishments with different operations, ranging from the simple traveling merchant to the broths registering in the line of Duval, such as boiling or chartier establishments.
Le Bouillon Chartier, still active today, opened in 1896 on the Grands Boulevards in Paris. Its immense room with carved woodwork and its magnificent chandeliers, of Art Nouveau style, are classified as historic monuments. It has never closed its doors or changed its name and, unlike all the others, has gone through time and modes without any interruption, even if its attendance rate has been able to experience fluctuations.
Concept of a popular restaurant, the Bouillon has thus turned into an essential institution of the Parisian landscape. Its success then continued until the interwar period before falling into disuse. Indeed, in France of the Thirty Glorious Years (1945-1975), the broth seems overwhelmed, cheesy and customers prefer for example the breweries they find more “high-end” and modern. We are also witnessing the development of fast foods, from the 1960s.
Since 2017, a comeback of the broths
However, the flame of the broth and the imaginary that accompanies it has never completely died down and it is as in November 2017, the Moussié brothers, restaurateurs, open the Pigalle broth in the capital (XVIIIe borough).
Their wish is to take up the initial codes of the broths, that is to say comforting dishes (for example, the Burgundy beef, the small salty with lentils or mash sausage) and gourmet desserts (like the profits sprinkled with hot chocolate), served at low prices, in a retro decor, on large tables with a canteen, continuously and without reservation.
The success is there and, little by little, other establishments (R) open, like the Bouillon Julien (xe Paris arrondissement) in 2018 in a restored setting, or the Bouillon République (IIIe Arrondissement) in 2021, in the preexisting framework of the Alsatian brasserie at Jenny. These cheap restaurants attract a lot of customers, French or foreign, delighted to eat good for not (too) expensive during periods of inflation. Indeed, many of them make it possible to sustain for less than 20 euros with an starter, a dish and a dessert.
Their rebirth is also based on values of simplicity and authenticity. On the other hand, many broths insist on the “homemade” and work frequently with local producers and in short circuit.
Bouillons in regions
These places embodying conviviality and the traditional French spirit have also multiplied outside the capital. And if their chiefs continue to offer comforting classics of French gastronomy, some do so in regional sauce, for example, the “roasted maroilles” at the Petit Bouillon alcide in Lille (North) or the “Diot, Creamy Polenta” at the Bouillon canteen of Seynod, in Haute-Savoie.
For the past two or three years, starred chefs have also opened their broth. This is the case of the Grenoble chief doubly starred Grenoble Christophe Aribert with the Bouillon A, opened in May 2022. He highlighted organic, local and seasonal products. Thierry Marx, two stars, opened the Bouillon du Coq in 2024 in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), where he offers he harengs in oil or his famous wine rooster. For him, it is also a way of bringing up to date of the dishes labeled “cheesy” at very affordable prices.
Since the beginning of 2023, it is estimated that a broth has been created every month in France. It is mainly low prices that attract customers. Maintaining an accessible price is the first fight of number of bubble owners.
Their secret? Strong preparation upstream (in particular cold dishes such as mayonnaise eggs or vinaigrette leeks), a number of gestures reduced by plate (not too many techniques, no complicated dressage), simple recipes, a card that changes little, but also savings on the purchase volume and tables that turn very quickly.
The other broth insurance is to find classic dishes served in record time in a pleasant and friendly setting.
