Potel et Chabot

Page 6

Once upon a lifetime

A space in which every sense is seized by emotion. A thrill of joy that traverses our entire body. An extravaganza of décor and detail that becomes an irreplaceable, indelible memory. An ode to life. At Potel et Chabot, our objective each day is to create this ideal, incomparable experience. We apply our art to express audacity and manifest talent. Our convictions are imbued with your desires. We weave our ideas into a tapestry of your personal preferences. A flowing dialogue is established between us, a silken thread binding us together, strengthening our determination to design extraordinary moments exclusively for you. We are creators of enthusiasm. We turn your personal plans into unforgettable projects. We make your most dazzling dreams come true. We are those who make hearts skip a beat, who make eyes shine brightly. Releasing a wave of joy to be shared, to be savoured, for ages to come.

IN KEEPING WITH THE ENVIRONMENT, IN HARMONY WITH PEOPLE

IN 2009, POTEL & CHABOT JOINED THE UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT, aligning itself with the Compact’s 10 fundamental principles regarding human rights, labour, the environment and ethics. Since then, we have made consistent, gradual progress in our corporate social responsibility (CSR), with clear-cut initiatives to address essential matters, such as reducing our environmental footprint.

FIGHTING FOOD WASTE AND PROMOTING SOLIDARITY

Our waste-fighting work begins with the guidance we give our clients. We know how to steer them towards choosing the “right quantities” without impacting their sense of bounty and generosity. As we organise numerous charity events for our clients each year, we are able to work with non-profit entities to redistribute all food from any cancelled order, as well as unconsumed food remaining after receptions. For twenty years we have collaborated with charitable operations such as La Galette du Cœur and, in 2020, we delivered 52,000 tray meals to hospitals to support caregivers in their tireless work.

ECO-DESIGNED EVENTS

Our determination to reduce our carbon footprint starts with our ingredient sourcing, where we choose local products, French brands and savoir-faire whenever possible. Every two months, our new menu features seasonal products and sustainably harvested fish. Our sales teams encourage you to select menus giving plant-based foods pride of place. We have banned single-use plastics in the kitchen and have leading-edge sorting and recycling practices. Furthermore, our “Think Green” offer promotes more virtuous event practices when it comes to scenography, with the option to choose local and in-season flowers.

RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT & A COMMITMENT TO SKILLSSHARING

Our chef is a woman, and women form an ever-greater percentage of our company staff. We are working to offer equal pay and the same career training and development opportunities to everyone. Guided by the values of respect, trust and communication, our managers watch over the staff’s well-being and remain devoted to their professional development. We also constantly invest our energies in passing on our savoir-faire, educating our many young interns and apprentices in French gastronomic culture and working with exceptional ingredients, part of the foundation of our company. Training the chefs of tomorrow is one of our finest and greatest responsibilities.

Our vis i on of events dovetails sustainable comm i tments with ephemeral emotions

WHEN UNITY IS STRENGTH

IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY IN PARIS, JEAN-FRANÇOIS POTEL WAS A PASTRY AND ROTISSERIE CHEF, a rôtisseur-pâtissier. He loved both sweet and savoury foods and, above all, high-quality products. He also operated a renowned shop selling produce, meat, fish and game. At the Palais Royal, Etienne Chabot was even better established: as the master chef (maître de bouche) to the Duke of Orléans, the future King Louis-Philippe, he reigned over the kitchen, the supplies, the table service and the banquet planning. When they joined forces in 1820, they invented the profession of “home caterer.” In Paris at the time of the Restoration, when the aristocracy had regained its influence and splendour, where the world of

politics and entertainment was in turmoil, people wanted to let loose and celebrate! Potel & Chabot very quickly became the gold standard in events, renowned for its service quality, staging skills and flair for spectacle, as Chabot was a tremendous theatre buff. From the start, their receptions would be precisely paced performances strewn with surprises – and commented upon at length the next day in the press. Two centuries later, Potel & Chabot has learned the lesson of its two founders: knowing how to “team up” and combine skills to ceaselessly reinvent the work we do. We have preserved this unity from the day we were founded, a “troupe spirit” that gives us the ability to perform the entire repertoire, from the classics to the avant-garde.

Complementary dinner served to Paris journalists by Gustave Eiffel for the opening of the first floor of the Eiffel Tower on 4 July 1888.

ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD.

A cocktail party on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower while it’s under construction?

A banquet for 23,000 elected officials in 1900 at the Jardin des Tuileries? A celebration, as eerily beautiful as a mirage, in the middle of the Iranian desert in 1971 for 600 heads of state who came to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire? This is a (modest) sample of our legendary performances. Our more typical, but equally exquisite, events entail delighting more than 300,000 guests a year at 6,000 receptions, including the Cannes Film Festival and Paris Air Show, and serving 7,000 covers for fifteen consecutive days at Roland-Garros, with variety as our watchword.

Rising to such challenges takes a thirst for constant innovation. Since the railway’s beginnings, our “turnkey” receptions have been taking trains to the provinces, or the Orient Express. We would be the first to adopt “revolutionary” inventions, such as ice blocks and the percolator! Technology intelligence is engraved in our history and has remained our strong suit, without which we could not possibly serve properly puffy soufflés to hundreds of guests! Or master all things hot, smoking, steaming and frozen, uniting them on a plate at the very last moment. Or take a recipe for two and produce it for thousands. Or even create our own serving tools, covers, cutlery or attelets (decorative skewers passed down from the Grand Siècle) reinterpreted for cutting-edge contemporary dishes.

Our savoir-fa i re honed since 1820 is continuously enriched by today's i nnovations
Illustration published in Le Petit Journal the day after the Mayors' Banquet, 30 April 1900. Potel & Chabot attelets and sporks.

FROM KITCHEN TO DINING ROOM, A CELEBRATION OF THE SENSES

OUR COMPANY HAS BUILT ITS REPUTATION UPON THE EXCELLENCE OF ITS PRODUCTS. Bresse chicken, lobster, truffles, sea urchins – we still know how to unearth of these culinary wonders for hundreds of guests, cooking and serving them with all the ceremony and flair of yesteryear. Our many “heritage recipes” recapture the golden age of French gastronomy. Choosing to serve, for example, the “pike soufflé in a copper mould” or the “Bresse chicken under a bread crust” is certain to bring back childhood memories or awaken new emotions in your guests. A wonderful way to bond over a meal. Yet our Cheffe de cuisine Marie Soria, along with her fifty chefs and apprentices, are anything but guardians of the gastronomic temple, for they craft their creations to suit contemporary palates: light, pure, with plant ingredients playing a greater role than ever. From an exquisite organic carrot we may suddenly decide to make an entire dish. Just as we may choose to combine Breton langoustines with the subtle flavours of coconut and verbena. Chef de pâtisserie Marc Rivière does not wallow in nostalgia either, except when it comes to the crepes made from his Breton grandmother’s recipe.

Known for his expert craftsmanship on our cocktail hors d’oeuvres and his iconic creations like the Pomme Magritte, his artistic flair never compromises the truth of pure gourmet pleasure. After lightening his sweet creations, this ever-inquisitive chef took on a new challenge with his team: creating a vegan collection. So that everyone can enjoy dessert.

Naturally, our two hundred years in the business have helped forge special relationships with great Champagne and Bordeaux estates, who set aside magnums and other exceptionally festive bottles for us! Be it a prestigious Cru Classé or an unexpected gem with a more modest pedigree, our wines are only brought to the table at the perfect temperature and maturity, when we have found its ideal, harmonious and surprising pairing with a dish. Our wine consultant, Charles Loembe, tastes and experiments with the sommeliers and cooks and possesses an unprejudiced palate, meaning he will not hesitate to serve a vintage Bollinger with a Camembert mousse! If it cannot be found in our cellars, you will find it in the vineyards, in direct contact with the owner-growers and on the crest of every wine-trend wave. Organic, biodynamic or natural wines already make up more than 30% of our wine list.

Marie Soria Marc Rivière Charles Loembe

AS AT ALL GOOD ESTABLISHMENTS, OUR MAÎTRES

D’HÔTEL, instantly at hand and attentive to your every need, are the quintessence of discretion – unless we jointly decide that they should be part of the show! When the curtain rises, they can swarm out from the wings, each with a sparkling silver tray in hand. Only to be joined by the same number of servers holding a Jeroboam of champagne, like a number from a festive Broadway musical. Lively choreography, thunderous applause – let the party begin!

In reality, long before the prelude, you can already sense the bonhomie and joy in the air. Warmed by the smiles of our valets, each guest is then greeted by our hostesses with a few words of welcome, before our maîtres d’hôtel take over. For 200 years, we have exuded an infectious sense of celebration! Whether you are a host or a guest, as you leave your coat in the cloakroom, it is as though you are shedding the cares and worries of the day, entering a shared moment of warmth and friendship that is sure to be unforgettable.

Whether your event is a small group dinner or lavish gala soirée, we offer you the same service quality and creative energy.

We are accustomed to events of every size and scale and have dazzling and flexible resources ensuring we can mobilise 800 maîtres d'hôtel, if need be, and adapt to every change made to an original plan, even last-minute challenges, which tend to galvanise our troops!

Of course, when that special day finally comes, we will have sprinkled an extra measure of magic into the decor of your choice. The tables will naturally be set with sparkling glasses, silverware, porcelain from the most prestigious manufacturers, or crafted by the edgier design generation, and fragrant flowers galore. In our Paris workshops, spanning some 5,000 square metres, our florists, scenographers, decorators, tableware specialists, even our ice sculptors, all of whom are champions of their trade when it comes to making magic and fully up to speed on every event evolution, will savvily create the tailor-made staging showcasing your brand or heralding your heroines and heroes of the day.

Service à la française, à la russe, tableside au guéridon, poultry and fish cut as tradition would have it: our staff are masters of the classics. Their work is exacting and intriguing (“What could be under that cover with the steaming chimney?”), spectacular (“Why have they suddenly shut off all the lights and what are these flaming dishes they’re bringing out?”) and will spice up every course of the meal with smiles and surprises. After officiating before each table’s fascinated guests, they will be delighted to provide detailed explanations of the content of your plates. Being part of a superb and wellinformed team, they naturally know exactly what goes on in the kitchens.

With our skilled st a ff in the dining room and behind the scenes, you are free to savour the mag i c of the moment, the pleasure of togetherness, while we take c a re of the rest…

IN OUR EXCEPTIONAL EVENT LOCATIONS, PARIS IS YOURS

Be it a museum, chateau or loft, we know exactly how to turn it into a dazzling ephemeral restaurant just for your event. But we most wish to welcome you to our Parisian pavilions that are solely dedicated to the elegant art of entertaining.

PAVILLON CAMBON CAPUCINES

Built in the early 20th century by ocean-liner architect, Charles Mewès, the uncluttered lines, vast loungemezzanine and soaring glass roof create the feeling of a large transatlantic ship anchored just off the Place de la Concorde. The 1,600 square metres also hold more private spaces, while the Salon Rossini can be transformed into an auditorium or screening room.

PAVILLON GABRIEL

Despite being located in the heart of France’s capital, between the ChampsElysées and Place de la Concorde, you nevertheless feel miles away from the city. As its garden mingles with and looks out over that of the Champs-Elysées, you are surrounded by greenery, be it on the terraces or beneath the glass roof of its Eiffel framework. You can also make use of the state-of-the-art equipment in Studio Gabriel. Here, no matter the season, your reception will feel like a garden party, easily on par with those of the presidential palace across the way.

The Pavillon Cambon Capucines The Pavillon Gabriel

PAVILLON VENDÔME

The former headquarters of the Banque de France and Bank of Sweden, built in 1930, is proof that, back then, banks were cathedrals. The Salon Vendôme is breathtakingly spacious, with colonnades, marbles and frescoes. Small lounges and dual entrances create a multitude of possibilities, and the basement has a surprise in store. The Bank Vault (Salle des Coffres) is entered through two monumental vault doors, giving you the distinct feeling of being invited to a “secret party” in a Paris as yet unexplored.

HÔTEL D’ÉVREUX

Behind its splendid Hardouin-Mansart façades are light-drenched salons with venerable parquet floors, sumptuous mouldings, gleaming crystal chandeliers and original gilded mirrors. Overlooking the Place Vendôme or the Cour d’Honneur, the building is also home to the astonishing Salle des Tirages, with large glass spheres used in days gone by for draws to determine winners of an ancestor of the lottery!

Our pavili o ns, splendiferous Paris sites steeped in history that inv i te you in to invent and experience your own celebrations
The Pavillon Vendôme
More information about our event locations here
The Hôtel d’Évreux

Once upon a lifetime

Tomato and mozzarella, diced vegetables

Lobster coulibiac
Beef tartare with oysters and raspberry morsels Guinea-fowl stuffed under the skin

Berry crater: raspberry jelly, sliced strawberries, vanilla ice cream and berry coulis

Three-chocolate tart, calamansi lime sorbet

Chocolate-caramel crispy fondant

Berry-hibiscus baba

www.poteletchabot.com

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