The timeless art de vivre since 1872
The timeless art de vivre since 1872
Prunier is the story of pioneering restaurateurs, visionaries and French entrepreneurs.
The story begins in 1872 with a man from Normandy, Alfred Prunier, and spans three generations of family, with his son, Émile and granddaughter, Simone. Simone went into exile in England during the Occupation to open her restaurant, passing on her cultural heritage and family savoir-faire to London.
Prunier's impact on France's culinary image around the world and on caviar is extraordinary. The inventor of the oyster bar (setting the standard for the Brasserie Parisienne and its seafood displays), champagne by the glass, fresh fish and oysters delivered direct to homes, with more than 200 delivery drivers on bicycles throughout Paris (Long before Deliveroo and UberEats...). Prunier stands for a love of gastronomy, caviar and seafood.
Prunier became the exclusive importer of Russian caviar in France and the largest in terms of quantity at the beginning of the 20th century. The first French Maison to sell French caviar. The first company to introduce measures to protect the environment, CSR before its time (Prunier decrees).
Customers quickly become friends. In 1921, Émile Prunier served his own caviar for the first time in his Paris restaurant. This was the first French caviar, made from sturgeon caught near Bordeaux and prepared on site in nine different workshops.
These workshops incorporated the best of Russian and Iranian savoir-faire. The Prunier restaurant catered for both the Russian aristocracy and the whole of Paris. It didn't happen by chance, it was the result of an incredible family adventure.
Prunier became a world-renowned French brand. With its brand new French caviar production business and its international rights to Russian caviar, Prunier made a name for itself around the world, its success benefits the entire capital. Paris became the international centre of the caviar trade, and several companies specialising in the field, which are still established today, were set up at this time.
At the end of 1924, Prunier opened his new restaurant, Traktir, on the corner of avenue Victor Hugo and rue Traktir. Designed in the purest Art Deco style that was the height of fashion on the Roaring Twenties, it quickly earned the title of the capital's most modern restaurant.