The Maison d'Or was the
meeting-place, in the sixty odd years of its existence, of many
celebrities of literature. Dumas, Meilhac, Emmanuel Arene used to dine
there before they went across the road for a game of cards at the Cercle
des Deux Mondes, and later Oncle Sarcey was one of the _habitues_ of the
house.
Two restaurants in particular seem to me to head the list of the
classic, quiet establishments, proud of having a long history, satisfied
with their usual _clientele_, non-advertising, content to rest on their
laurels. Those two are the Anglais and Voisin's, the former on the
Boulevard des Italiens, the latter in the Rue St-Honore. The Cafe
Anglais, the white-faced house at the corner of the Rue Marivaux, is the
senior of the two, for it has a history of more than a hundred years. It
was originally a little wine-merchant's shop, with its door leading into
the Rue Marivaux, and was owned by a M. Chevereuil. The ownerships of
MM. Chellet and de L'Homme marked successive steps in its upward career,
and when the restaurant came into the market in '79 or '80 it was bought
by a syndicate of bankers and other rich business men who parted with it
to its present proprietor. The Comte de Grammont Caderousse and his
companions in what used to be known as the "Loge Infernale" at the old
Opera, were the best-known patrons of the Anglais; and until the Opera
House, replaced by the present building, was burnt down, the Anglais was
a great supping-place, the little rabbit-hutches of the _entresol_
being the scene of some of the wildest and most interesting parties
given by the great men of the Second Empire.
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