:Pavillon Ledoyen

Initially, it began in 1779 as a very small inn named Au Dauphin.{{cite book|last=Vallois|first=Thirza|title=Around and about Paris Vol.2: From the Guillotine to the Bastille Opera: The 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Arrondissements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYLWAAAAMAAJ&q=ledoyen|accessdate=20 January 2012|date=September 1999|publisher=Iliad Books|page=40|isbn=9780952537830 }} It was near the Place Louis XV (current Place de la Concorde), near the Café des Ambassadeurs (between Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the current Avenue Gabriel). At that time it was a country inn on the outskirts of Paris and cows grazed in the fields outside.{{cite book|last1=Glyn|first1=Anthony|last2=Glyn|first2=Susan|title=The companion guide to Paris|url=https://archive.org/details/companionguideto0000glyn|url-access=registration|accessdate=20 January 2012|date=June 2000|publisher=Companion Guides|isbn=978-1-900639-20-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/companionguideto0000glyn/page/83 83]}} On 4 August 1791, Pierre-Michel Ledoyen, a son of caterers, rented it and established it as a formal restaurant.

File:The Scandinavian Artists Lunch at Café Ledoyen, Paris Varnishing Day 1886 (Hugo Birger) - Gothenburg Museum of Art - GKM 0204.tif, 1886]]

Ledoyen, a dishwasher in his early years,{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Rowland|title=Where and how to dine in Paris: with notes on Paris hotels, waiters and their tips, Paris theatres, minor theatres, music halls, racing round Paris, etc|url=https://archive.org/details/whereandhowtodi00strogoog|accessdate=21 January 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1900|publisher=G. Richards|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whereandhowtodi00strogoog/page/n84 72]–}} renamed the restaurant after himself in 1814, and it was owned by the Desmazures for many years. In 1842, architect Jacques Hittorff, responsible for the development of the gardens of the Champs-Élysées, transferred the restaurant to its present location.{{cite book|last=Downes|first=Stephen|title=Paris on a Plate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YenrOAYVPZUC&pg=PT133|accessdate=20 January 2012|date=1 November 2006|publisher=Pier 9|isbn=978-1-74045-881-8|page=133}} Six years later, it was repaired and renovated following a fire.

Today, the building's walls are owned by the city of Paris. It received three Michelin Star status under Christian Le Squer since 2002.{{cite book|author=Nathaniel Newnham-Davis|authorlink=Nathaniel Newnham-Davis (journalist)|title=Gourmet's Guide to Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yC52zhxq6mQC&pg=PA21|accessdate=20 January 2012|date=January 2008|publisher=Applewood Books|isbn=978-1-4290-1266-9|page=21}}

It is operated by Yannick Alléno, who in his first year achieved three Michelin stars.{{CN|date=January 2021}}

File:Fontaine de Diane Paris 8e 003.jpg and decorated by the sculptor Louis Desprez.]]

The original building was {{convert|13|by|4|m}},{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} with white walls and green shutters. When the restaurant was relocated in 1784 it was to a two-story pavilion with terraced gardens, designed in the Neoclassical style. The 1886 oil-on-canvas, Scandinavian Artists' Lunch at Cafe Ledoyen, Paris, on Varnishing Day by the Swedish painter Hugo Birger suggests something of the appearance of the restaurant in the late 19th century.{{cite book|last=Lindgren|first=Mereth|title=A history of Swedish art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRrqAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=21 January 2012|year=1987|publisher=Signum|isbn=978-91-85330-78-2|page=186}} Its features include many huge windows, ornate ceilings,{{cite book|last=Vlotides|first=Nina|title=A Hedonist's Guide to Paris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FiyXb4RjZAC&pg=PA102|accessdate=21 January 2012|year=2006|publisher=A Hedonist's guide to...|isbn=978-1-905428-05-2|pages=102–}} and historic second floor rooms.{{cite book|last=Trefler|first=Caroline|title=Fodor's 2007 Paris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1RGNRPzVKMC&pg=PA173|accessdate=21 January 2012|date=29 August 2006|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4000-1681-5|pages=173–}} Dining areas include outdoor seating, interior salons,{{cite book|title=Appletons' journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA658|accessdate=21 January 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1874|publisher=D. Appleton and Co.|pages=658–}} and a 1950s-style grill room.{{cite book|last1=Tillier|first1=Alan|last2=Spenley|first2=Katherine|title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Paris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXdam0IVTF0C&pg=PT313|accessdate=21 January 2012|year=2011|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-7566-8505-8|pages=313–}}

During the late 18th century, it was a haunt of Louis de Saint-Just and Maximilien Robespierre and they dined there on 26 July 1794, two days before their execution. Napoleon and Joséphine de Beauharnais reportedly met at the restaurant and the restaurant was also a favourite of artists and writers such as Danton, Marat, Degas, Monet, Zola, Flaubert and Guy de Maupassant. A mid-19th-century account states that the restaurant was also the breakfast place of duellists, who, after shooting at each other in the Bois de Boulogne, reconciled over breakfast at Ledoyen.{{cite book|title=Paris and its environs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVIoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA189|accessdate=21 January 2012|edition=Public domain|year=1855|pages=189– | last1=Bogue | first1=David }}

• List of Michelin three starred restaurants

{{Reflist|33em}}

{{Commons category|Pavillon Ledoyen}}

• [http://www.ledoyen.com/ Restaurant site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150307180810/http://www.pavillonledoyen.fr/ French gourmet internet website]

{{Michelin Guide 3-star restaurants in France}}

{{Restaurants in Paris}}

Category:Restaurants in Paris

Category:Restaurants established in 1779

Category:Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1842

Category:Michelin-starred restaurants in France

Category:Champs-Élysées

Category:1779 establishments in France