On Monday, the Eiffel Tower operating company (Sete), and its partner Sodexo announced that the Eiffel Tower brasserie will reopen with French chef Thierry Martin in the kitchen. They hope to capitalize on the successful launch of tourists. Madame Brasserie’s opening was originally announced for May 17 but has been delayed due to delays in work. La Sete said that this spring, the company which operates the Eiffel Tower, has seen a return to the pre-health crisis levels of attendance (-8% in May, compared to 2019). The monument was visited by between 23,000 to 25,000 people each day during the Ascension weekend.
According to the Sete, online sales of tickets to Americans have increased from 10% to 17% since spring break and to French customers from 23% to 15%. Germans (7%) and Spaniards (11% each) follow. Even though the Eiffel Tower was closed for one year due to the health crisis, it still serves a third American customer for the month July.
Madame Brasserie hopes “to seduce visitors from all over the world, as well as Parisians,” La Sete stated in a press release. Jean-Francois Martins, the president of Madame Brasserie, noted that there has been good French attendance since its reopening in July 2021. He hopes to attract a “local audience”. The transformed establishment, which overlooks the Trocadero and Palais de Chaillot, was closed in 2019 due to major work delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is located on the first floor at the Iron Lady, which is 57m high.
Thierry Marx will lead a team of 150 and serve traditional brasserie dishes using seasonal produce. These dishes will be made from sustainable agriculture. 70% of them are supplied by local farmers and food artisans within a shorter circuit, less than 200km.
