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.

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.