The Story Of…. Cafe/Brasserie Le Select in Paris

Exclusive interview with Frederic Plegat
By Karen Beishuizen
Photos courtesy of Cafe/Brasserie Le Select

Le Select Cafe/Brasserie was founded in 1923 in Paris. Chic and beautiful, in the style of the 1920s with its stucco, moldings, wooden tables and benches. A literary and artistic place where the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg were regulars and called it home away from home. Try out Scarlet Johansson’s favorite: the famous roasted farm chicken in its own juice! Or just a coffee at the counter to imagine the shades of Hemingway. Visit Le Select next time you are in Paris!

KB: Describe to the RSR readers when and by who Le Select was founded?

Le Select was founded in 1923. It was one of the first establishments to be open all night. From what I know, it would be Mr. and Mrs. Jalbert who were the founders, but I am not sure. At the end of the 50s or beginning of the 60s, the owners were Mr. and Mrs. Caffin. Finally, in 1978, my grandfather and my grandmother (Mr. and Mrs. Plegat) became the owners. My father took over in the mid-1980s. Today he is still the owner and my wife, and I are managing Le Select.

KB: What is the best drink and food on the menu and why should people try it?

There really isn’t a “best” drink. Having said that, we have a nice list of whiskeys that will satisfy an amateur and the Dry cocktail (we also have a nice selection of gins). As for the dish, I would recommend our Scottish Label Rouge salmon which we buy fresh and which we smoke ourselves (homemade), or the calf’s head which is a typically French dish but perhaps less accessible to foreign customers.

KB: Le Select was and is a place for intellectuals and writers. Why do you think this is?

It is still a place for writers, intellectuals and artists. When Le Select was founded in 1923, La Rotonde and Le Dôme (two other historic Montparnasse brasseries) were already there. Artists, philosophers, intellectuals and politicians were among their regulars, and they also started to visit Le Select, especially since it was open all night, which allowed them to continue their discussions. Everyone had their own preferences, and they visited one place more than the other. We call this area the “golden triangle” of Montparnasse. La Coupole (another famous brasserie brewery) joined later (1927) to complete the “triangle”.

KB: Which famous people have visited Le Select over the years?

There have been many: Ernest Hemingway (who also quotes Le Select in “The Sun Also Rises”), F. Scott Fitzgerald, the painters Pablo Picasso, Tsuguharu Foujita, Antonin Artaud, Anais Nin. In the second part of the 20th century, poets like William S. Burroughs, Brian Gysin, Allen Ginsberg and the director Luis Bunuel visited Le Select frequently. Sculptor César and Jim Harrison (two men I personally met, with a great crush on the Harrison “bear” in his poem). These days, celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Catherine Deneuve, Tatiana de Rosnay (who wrote the best seller “Her Name Was Sarah”), François Meyronnis and Yannick Haenel (two French writers) and many others. Often people want to know where Hemingway sat but I wasn’t born at that time so I can’t answer that. On the other hand, I do answer questions and I like to think, that without knowing it, we may have the future Hemingway among us. It’s an advantage for us to have ‘known’ people, but we serve everyone in the same way, because for us each person is important. I think that celebrities, who visit us, like this “normal” side.

KB: I read James Baldwin was a frequent guest and that he wrote his novel “Giovanni’s Room” here?

I forgot to quote him. I heard about it, because after the World War II or even during, Le Select was a refuge haven for the gay community. (You can compare it to stateless people in another period). Le Select was a melting pot (even today but to a lesser extent). I cannot (because I have no clear evidence) confirm to you whether part of “Giovanni’s Room” was written here, but I like to think so.

KB: In which movies and series has Le Select appeared in?

I don’t have information on anything before 1978 but I do know that Le Select is seen towards the end of the 1960 Jean Luc Godard’s movie “Breathless”. Several scenes from the 1989 movie “Mes Nuits Sont Plus Belles Que Vos Jours” with Sophie Marceau and Jacques Dutronc and directed by Andrzej Zulawski were filmed at Le Select. Several times we have been asked for filming which we have often declined, apart from brief scene shootings, because we would have to privatize Le Select which our regular customers would have difficulty understanding.
Le Select has not appeared in series.

KB: Describe to the RSR readers what they would see on a visit to Le Select.

Although Le Select is a hundred years old, it has remained almost identical. Like some other establishments, it’s a little piece of history. When you enter Le Select, you discover the welcoming covered terrace with soft lighting, but what catches the eye the most is the wooden bar which has stood the test of time with shelves stocked with bottles and a small “counter bar” where our “mascot”, a cat we called Mickey, often rested and who stayed with us for a little over twenty years. In the second room there is a sort of dome, partly made of glass, which gives a beautiful light.

KB: Why should people visit Le Select?

I like to think that people should come to Le Select at least once because it’s a place full of history which you can almost feel by touching the bar or breathing in the atmosphere. Without looking for it and unlike other well-known establishments (notably on Boulevard Saint Germain), Le Select has remained a place where there are more regular customers than tourists. So, in a way it remained more authentic to me. There is also the “Bistro” “Brasserie” side where guests can come for a drink as well as for dinner.

Check out Le Select’s website: HERE

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