À Sousceyrac: Story of a Michelin-Starred Paris Restaurant
Three generations of the Asfaux family at 35 rue Faidherbe, Paris 11th (1923–2005) — a Michelin star, a cassoulet saluted by Le Monde, and a lièvre à la royale that became legendary.
Some Paris addresses carry an era in their very name. At 35 rue Faidherbe, in the 11th arrondissement, "À Sousceyrac" was one of them. For nearly half a century, this house brought to Paris a certain idea of the cooking of the Lot: generous, rooted in its terroir, faithful to the produce and to the craft.
It all began with a couple from Sousceyrac, a village in the Quercy "red and golden, smelling of truffle and foie gras." In June 1923, Patrick Asfaux's grandparents opened a brasserie on rue Faidherbe and gave it the name of their native village. Before the war, the place was a haunt of the cabinetmakers of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine: their card games had to be cleared away to lay the marble tables for service.
The starGabriel Asfaux's table
After the war, the second generation took over and turned the bistro into an elegant table, without ever shutting off the flow of Cahors wine at the zinc bar. Two twin brothers ran the house: Gabriel Asfaux, known as Gaby, Patrick's father, in the kitchen, and his twin Guy in the dining room. Under their watch, the restaurant earned its recognition: in 1951, the Michelin Guide awarded it a star.
The table became a gathering place for epicureans. Among its regulars were the gastronome Curnonsky, the physician and food writer Édouard de Pomiane, the French Senate president Gaston Monnerville, and Prince Aly Khan. The novelist Pierre Benoit, whose book Le Déjeuner de Sousceyrac had made the village's name famous, dined there often.
Guests would order ahead for the house's celebration dishes: the gastronomes' chicken stuffed with truffles and foie gras, boned roast duck with ceps, the great rib of beef in wine sauce.
In 1984, The New York Times, in a piece by R. W. Apple Jr., ranked À Sousceyrac among the fifteen best bistros in Paris. The paper noted that Gabriel Asfaux had run the house for more than thirty years, with his two sons already hard at work: the third generation was ready to take over. A devoted champion of lièvre à la royale, Gabriel Asfaux was also a founder of a brotherhood dedicated to that emblematic dish.
The criticReviewed by Henri Gault
In 1963, the house drew the attention of a writer bound for fame. In his book À voir et à manger, the critic Henri Gault — future co-founder of the celebrated Gault & Millau guide — devoted several pages to the restaurant, to its cooking from the Lot and its family atmosphere. An early endorsement, signed by one of the men who would soon make and unmake gastronomic reputations across France.
Signature dishesThe recipes of the house
Three preparations defined À Sousceyrac's identity. Chef Patrick Asfaux has since shared them all on AFTouch-Cuisine.
The cassoulet in particular earned the restaurant a devoted following. In January 2001, the critic Jean-Pierre Quélin devoted a column in Le Monde to it, noting that both the Michelin and Pudlowski guides named À Sousceyrac the oldest and most virtuous cassoulet in Paris.
The third generationPatrick and Luc Asfaux
The third generation bore the names of Patrick Asfaux, in the kitchen, and his brother Luc, the restaurant's sommelier. Kitchen and cellar moved as one, within the family — a rare harmony between what left the stoves and what was poured into the glasses.
The restaurant's reputation crossed borders. In November 1993, the food critic Patricia Wells ranked À Sousceyrac in The New York Times among the best game restaurants in Paris, alongside Michelin-starred establishments. Years later, in 2019, the Spanish daily La Vanguardia still cited À Sousceyrac and Patrick Asfaux in a sweeping survey of lièvre à la royale, saluting a house that had become legendary for the dish.
Patrick Asfaux, who became a Maître Cuisinier de France, kept the house until it was sold, in the mid-2000s. The restaurant has since changed hands and name.
À Sousceyrac — 35, rue Faidherbe, Paris 11e
The legacyA cuisine that lives on
À Sousceyrac, under its historic name, is no more. But the essential did not disappear — it simply changed form. For some twenty years now, chef Patrick Asfaux has shared online the recipes and the know-how of a lifetime at the stove, answering home cooks' questions himself. The cooking of a great starred house, once reserved for those who pushed open the door on rue Faidherbe, is now within everyone's reach.
MilestonesThe house in a few dates
- June 1923The Asfaux grandparents, from Sousceyrac in the Lot, open their brasserie on rue Faidherbe.
- Pre-warThe address is a haunt of the cabinetmakers of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
- Post-warThe second generation turns the brasserie into a fine dining table.
- 1951Gabriel Asfaux earns a star in the Michelin Guide.
- 1963Henri Gault devotes several pages to the restaurant in À voir et à manger.
- 1984The New York Times ranks À Sousceyrac among the fifteen best bistros in Paris.
- 1993The New York Times ranks À Sousceyrac among the best game restaurants in Paris.
- 2001Le Monde hails the cassoulet as the oldest and most virtuous in Paris.
- Mid-2000sPatrick and Luc Asfaux, the third generation, sell the house.
- 2019La Vanguardia names Patrick Asfaux among the references for lièvre à la royale in France.
Historical sources
Henri Gault, À voir et à manger, preface by Antoine Blondin, Paris, René Julliard, 1963, pp. 27-28. — R. W. Apple Jr., "A Bistro Lover's Choice," The New York Times, 25 March 1984. — Patricia Wells, "Choice Tables; In Paris, It's Time to Name Your Game," The New York Times, 14 November 1993. — Jean-Pierre Quélin, "Une nouvelle année sous le signe du classique régional," Le Monde, 3 January 2001. — Oscar Caballero, "La liebre a la royal…," La Vanguardia, 3 December 2019. Further details from the recollections of chef Patrick Asfaux.