Dinner for 2 at Au Pied De Cochon at the InterContinental, Atlanta

The famous Parisian Brasserie is located in the heart of Paris in front of the Jardin des Halles between the Bourse du Commerce and the Church Saint Eustache.

Au Pied de Cochon was opened by Clement Blanc in 1946 right after the Second World War. This was the same year as the foundation of the first InterContinental hotel by PanAm Airlines. Mr. Blanc was a butcher, who specialized in Pork meat at Les Halles which was at this time the largest meat and fish market in Paris and even in Europe. In order to feed his staff after their shift, Mr. Blanc decided to open a restaurant in front of Les Halles. Butchers were mainly ending their shift early in the morning so Au Pied de Cochon became the meeting point for a good meals after work. To provide a meal for everyone, the restaurant was opened 24 hours.

One of the goals of the owner was to attract any social classes into the restaurant (meaning to have a table of aristocrats coming for lunch after church - sitting next to a table of butchers wearing dirty clothes finishing their late breakfast). The dishes offered have always been traditional French Cuisine in order to attract people from the labor class (pig's trotter, ear, snout as well as the andouillette or the onions soup).

Since the opening, more than 60 years ago, most of the guests visit the Au Pied de Cochon in the evening and overnight. The Brasserie has never closed its doors, keys don't exist! Because les Halles was getting too busy due to its success, the French government decided to relocate the market outside Paris where today it still is the largest market for fresh produce, meat, flowers and fruit in Europe. Les Halles was destroyed and an underground shopping center was built instead. Au Pied de Cochon is still one of the most popular brasserie in Paris.