In the 1980s, the Costes brothers opened designer restaurants near Parisian cultural venues, in locations combining “the space and the terrace, the sun, the comfort, the view and the absence of cars”. In line with the Aveyronnais – and although he denies it a little – the forties Laurent de Gourcuff has collected in the beautiful districts of the capital “crazy places and terraces” which largely explain the irresistible rise of his group, Paris Society. At the same time, the range of cuisines that appeal to an upscale and traveling clientele (French, Italian, Asian, and soon to be Oriental) has been deployed methodically in recent years in its restaurants.
With 400 seats, vast green outdoor spaces, decoration signed by a renowned architect, highly Instagrammable dishes and a neat musical atmosphere, Gigi Paris offers, for example, “reinventing the dolce vita” on the luxurious avenue Montaigne. And it works: this establishment, one of the latest additions to Paris Society, has already established itself as the group’s flagship “with an annual turnover of nearly 16 million euros at the end of 2021”, enthuses Laurent de Gourcuff. In total, its catering activities grew by 64% between 2019 and 2021, a year marked by nine openings.
This kind of proposal raises the question of the future of gastronomy, according to Nicolas Chatenier, strategy and communication advisor to chefs: “ With the art of adopting certain codes of gastronomy, including prices, this type of place fills a need for conviviality and celebration while the large restaurant remains a bit like the opera: it is the setting for a magnificent art of living, but some people are bored with it. »
Early bed customers
Former number one of the night under the name of Noctis, Paris Society will have taken only a decade to become a champion of“eatertainment” – an English concept resulting from the contraction of eat (to eat) and entertainment (amusement). Its shareholder AccorHotels, which rose to 40.8% in the capital in 2021, has supported this development for four years. Like his big competitor, Benjamin Patou, who will celebrate Moma Group’s 10th anniversary in September, Laurent de Gourcuff has noticed that the golden youth of Parisian nightlife has changed the way they have fun in recent years.
Along fairly similar paths, these two bosses started by organizing parties after high school by taking advantage of their address book. Then they bought clubs and discotheques, a business kept by both of them but which withered away. Today’s young generation goes to bed earlier than their parents. Since then, “many prefer to spend the whole evening in a festive restaurant for a hundred euros rather than chaining a restaurant and a nightclub for the same price”explains Laurent de Gourcuff.
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