Where’s the beef… in Paris?

Relais de l’Entrecôte serves only slices of sirloin with a secret sauce

Not everybody’s a vegan or a vegetarian. Not everybody shuns butter, beef, and fried sticks of carbohydrates (called French fries in America, called “frites” here in France.)

I’ve found that some American expats here like to gripe about the taste and texture of French beef; I’m not one of them (I gripe about lots of other things and this one doesn’t fit into my grousing line up) . Cuts of meats are different here and have funny French names — Collier, basses côtes, queue de boeuf, gite (not a holiday house), onglet, bavette, flanchet, paleron, jumeau, tendre, rumsteck, faux-filet, hampe de boeur, gros bout de poitrine, onglet, aiguillette baronne, macreuse and the everlasting entrecôte.

Image credit: wikipedia

This last, aka sirloin, doesn’t seem to have quite enough fat for my American friends, but it’s the centerpiece of the Relais de l’Entrecote experience and the dish really doesn’t lack fat. For these brave souls who sneer at clogged arteries and the bathroom scales, there are the iconic Paris eateries called “Relais de l’Entrecôte”. And if you find out you’re gonna die tomorrow anyway, eat there. What have you got to lose?

Image credit: Queue outside Entrecote, Paris

But don’t try to make a reservation. You can’t. You’ll have to stand in line with all the other folks desperate for the restaurant’s single prix fixe menu: walnut salad, delectable slices of sirloin smothered in a butter-based, slightly green sauce, and mounds of the best frites in town. To wash it all down, there are glasses or carafes of modestly priced house-sponsored wine. And, when it’s time for dessert, one gets a bit of choice: fruit pastries, profiteroles, crème brûlée, and other confections, most of them containing ice cream, chocolate sauce, meringue, and whipped cream.

All this will be written down on your paper tablecloth by criminally busy servers (all females in black dresses with white collars and aprons) who won’t tell you their name, ask you if everything’s all right, or ignore you when you want the bill (this is one of the few places in France that looks to turn tables and your check will be about 26 euros, plus wine and dessert costs) There are always dozens of patrons outside on the sidewalk, patiently waiting for a chance at the delectable beef and sauce.

The servers will also come around with seconds and pile them on your empty plate. Dear god, this place is a good time.

The history of these meat-centric restaurants (there are now many of them, generally referred to by natives as just “L’Entrecôte”) is somewhat peculiar. All of them are based on the culinary genius of Paul Gineste de Saurs who, in 1959, purchased a 17th arrondissement restaurant, Le Relais de Venise (the Venice Inn) near Porte Maillot. Paul was trying to carve out a reliable market for his family’s wines from near Toulouse.

Wait: Time for a French lesson. Skip over if you don’t care about the French language.

If you see a place called a Relais fill in the blank, it’s an inn, usually with a restaurant. The name comes from the French word relais that means a hotel located in the countryside. In the olden days in France, a relais was the post office where one stopped to rest in the middle of a long journey and change the horse team. Relassier means to relax, to refresh oneself — or one’s horse — if necessary.

At his relais, Paul counted on offering only the French bistro menu staple of steak-frites. But instead of the usual steak-frites with herbed butter, Le Relais de Venise served the dish with an aromatic, slightly sweet butter-based sauce. A simple lettuce salad with walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette came as a starter. The steak sauce was the kicker.

This concoction is supposed to be a secret and trying to figure it out is a pastime among fans. Le Monde, the big-deal Paris paper, determined it’s made from blanched, thyme-infused chicken livers that are minced, strained and added to full cream, white Dijon mustard, whipped with butter and water, plus salt and pepper. Some know-it-alls say that’s wrong. I wish I knew. I don’t trust myself blanching chicken livers because I have horrid, stinky childhood memories of my grandmother poaching them for her nasty tabby cat, Tiny. But I digress.

As a nod to its popularity, the restaurant also serves a nice big basket of bread (as most bistros do) and patrons use it to sop up this smooth, delectable sauce. This sauce is as popular as pickle ball.

Like many successful restaurants, les Entrecôtes have their own internal unhappiness. Feuding sisters broke up the family franchise after Paul de Saurs death with one girl taking over the “Venise” restaurant near Porte Maillot and another opening several locations around Paris. While they have different ownership, they all follow the same rules: one menu (the salad, steak with sauce, and frites) available and served only by female servers in a very traditional bistro setting, no reservations taken. Only wines from the de Saurs family are served.

Image credit: L’Entrecote Marbeuf

They all look alike too. The tables are dressed in red, yellow, blue or green tablecloths and glazed and embossed white paper. The dining room decor is vintage Parisian: bistro, wood panelling, mirrors, and vintage posters.

Patrons have three decisions to make: How they want their steak cooked (order it well done at the risk of having your plate violated by the kitchen workers at Entrecôte or any other French eatery), wine, and dessert.

The only downside to the experience (unless you’re a vegan or a vegetarian) is the drooling future diners who are staring through the windows wishing you’d hurry up and finish.

None of them are vegans or vegetarians. Go figure.

 

Relais de l’Entrecôte Saint-Benoît

  • 20, rue Saint-Benoît – 75006 ParisTel. : +33 1 45 49 16 00 Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Line 4)

Relais de l’Entrecôte Marbeuf

  • 15 Rue Marbeuf – 75008 ParisTel. : +33 1 49 52 07 17. Metro: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Lines 1 & 9)

Relais de l’Entrecôte Montparnasse

  • 101, blvd du Montparnasse – 75006 ParisTel. : +33 1 46 33 82 82. Metro: Vavin (Line 4)

Le Relais de Venise (the original since 1959)

  • 271 Boulevard Pereire, 75017 ParisTel.: +33 1 45 74 27 97. Metro: Porte Maillot (Line 1)

 


Have you experienced any of these restaurants and where do you enjoy beef in Paris? Please share your experience below in the comments.


 

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About the Contributor

Valérie Helmbreck Mascitti

As a staff features reporter for Gannett newspapers for many years I won the Temple University Free Speech Award and later worked in France for the DuPont Company. I'm a proud member of the Oyster of the Month Club and the National Geographic Society.

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3 Comments

  1. Caroline McCormick-Clarke Feb 1, 2025 at 6:24 AM - Reply

    Yummy – that made me so hungry . Must visit when next in Paris. Thank you for sharing and describing .

  2. Harriett Godwin Feb 2, 2025 at 12:16 AM - Reply

    We ate at the one on Montparnasse during a trip a rear or so ago. A Parisian friend took us, not telling us anything about it other than we needed to be early to get in line. I am not a big beef eater but it was delicious.

  3. Russell Roman Feb 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM - Reply

    Please tell me Le Louchebem is still there, the only place on the planet to safely order a beautifully prepared steak tartare?

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