Ever wondered if Gusteau’s restaurant in Pixar’s Ratatouille is actually real? Well, the Parisian establishment that inspired it has a fascinating history, and it just reopened after a huge renovation.
This heartbreaking story was not an invention. Pixar took inspiration from Bernard Loiseau, a gastronomical legend from France who died by suicide when he found out about a star that was going to be knocked off. Like Gusteau, Loiseau was also a pioneer in French cuisine, and foodies would recognize the parallels well.
Is The Ratatouille Restaurant Real? (& Can You Visit?)
There’s nothing quite like Pixar’s Ratatouille. It isn’t just a film – it’s an enduring (and beloved) tale of ambition, imagination and kindred spirits. It’s not just an animation, either; it brilliantly captures a chef’s (ahem, rat’s) genius, not to mention the distinct magic of restaurants. All of this means it’s a film that will make you hungry – and it’ll likely also make you want to snap up a booking at your nearest French restaurant.
Can You Visit The Restaurant In Ratatouille?
The short answer is yes. While Gusteau’s itself isn’t a real eatery, there’s one restaurant in particular that inspired it: La Tour d’Argent in Paris. Like Gusteau’s, La Tour d’Argent stands on the banks of the River Seine, and it serves up outstanding French fare. Ratatouille’s director, Brad Bird, apparently spent hours perfecting drawings of the restaurant’s dining room to use as inspiration onscreen; both the lamps and the cheese trolley in Gusteau’s were, in fact, replicated from those in La Tour d’Argent.
Aside from its cinematographic significance, however, La Tour d’Argent has an impressive legacy all of its own. It relaunched in August 2023 after a 15-month refurbishment, but the date of its actual opening is contested; the building itself is believed to date back as far as 1582. The restaurant has welcomed a string of famous guests including Queen Elizabeth II, Theodore Roosevelt and John F Kennedy, though it’s perhaps best known for housing a staggering 300,000 different wines in its cellar – with some bottles valued at €25,000.
The Truth Behind Ratatouille
FAQ
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