World famous restaurant (Silver Tower) in Paris on the left bank of the Seine near the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. Allegedly it was founded in 1582 by a chef named Rourteau. From the dining room on the top floor you can enjoy a view of Paris and the Seine. Famous early regular guests were, among others, the three French kings Henry III. (1551-1589), Henry IV (1553-1610) and Louis XIV (1638-1715), as well as Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) and the noble writer Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696). The restaurant is famous for its duck dishes. The recipe for the "Canard Tour d'Argent" was created in 1890 by the then owner of the restaurant, Frédéric Delair. From the breeding of the ducks, their slaughter, to the preparation and serving of the dish, great care is taken with every detail of the dish. In this way, the duck is strangled and therefore does not bleed and is therefore particularly juicy. The sauce is prepared from duck carcass (skeleton) and liver using a duck press at the table.
When the German occupying forces marched into the open city of Paris on 12 June 1940, Claude Terrail, the son of the then owner André Terrail, wisely organised a rescue operation in six hours of work. At that time, the restaurant's cellar contained 100,000 wines. The 20,000 most valuable bottles were walled up in a niche. Among them were many from the 19th century, especially from the châteaux of the famous Bordeaux classification of 1855. Soon after, a personal representative of Hermann Göring came to the restaurant, especially to confiscate old wines, because it was known what treasures were hidden here. The best wines were saved, but 80,000 bottles were stolen.
Today the wine cellar contains around 450,000 bottles, divided into 15,000 references. From 1933 to 1952 and from 1953 to 1996, La Tour d'Argent had three stars in the Guide Michelin, but since 2006 it has only one. The right picture shows the extensive wine list. See also under wine with food.
Picture left: CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Picture right: From Donatingpictures - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
