Michel and Sébastien Bras have imagined a place that has "a soul", filled with attention at all times. This space, suspended in the sky with a breathtaking views to both the interieur and exterieur, has a strong personality, as much in the design of the space as in the contents of the plates and glasses of our guests.
La Halle aux grains is a place inhabited by the breath of the Bras family. A house where every detail, every attention is filled with meaning, where the guest is first invited before being a customer. A place where the welcome should not be impersonal, but accompanied by a gesture from the staff, a smile, a surprise on the table, signs of a way of being. A spirit of which the teams, on both sides of the pass, are guarantors. The Aveyron accent of some betrays the link of filiation that Michel and Sébastien wanted to establish between the Halle aux Grains and the Suquet restaurant in Laguiole, where some of them were imbued with the Bras spirit for several years. "We want the Halle aux Grains to have a soul," say the chefs. A soul that should encourage conversations rather than muffle them, accelerate good times rather than inhibit them, accessible every day of the year from noon to midnight.
A circular arc that follows the form of the Bourse de Commerce, the Halle aux grains is located on the 3rd level of the Bourse de Commerce. A rainbow linking the interior and exterior of the building, it offers breathtaking views. An interior view of the heart of the restored historic building, magnified by the architect Tadao Ando, and of the original painted decoration depicting the five continents that surrounds the vast rotunda. It also opens up an unprecedented view of Paris that skims the church Saint-Eustache, flies over the Canopée des Halles, and wanders towards the Centre Pompidou and, beyond, the roofs of the capital. The main space, with nearly sixty seats, stretches out below a long glass roof, a luminous backbone that serves four small private lounges facing each other (each able to accommodate ten to twenty guests). Majestic staircases lead up to the restaurant on both sides. The first one is for those who wish to go there directly, without waiting, from the main entrance of the Bourse de Commerce. The second is dedicated to visitors to the museum.
Vocabulary of material, color and light
Defined by the architects of the NeM agency, Lucie Niney and Thibault Marca, the space and its objects were then created by the designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. They imagined a vocabulary of materials, colors, and light to create a place of comfort that is far from the established codes, but which conveys a soft atmosphere. Textiles have a special place. Starting with the guipure curtains, openwork grid that cuts the room with a vibration, but dispenses with walls, revealing the space without closing it by letting light filter and flirt with looks. The textile, useful / apropos also to warm the whole, dress the armchairs of a wool felt, precise, tense or the grounds of a raw cotton carpet, weaved of linen, particularly weft, woven by a centenary company of the North. A radical piece, rough, rustic, but delicate.
Contrast and monochrome
A contrast sought by the designers for the tables and seats with sober lines and wrought iron legs whose hammering can be heard and seen, a praise of both simplicity and refinement. The same elegance can be seen in the cast glass vases, where you can feel the firing of the paste. Touches of brilliance and color that reinforce the monochrome of the whole which oscillates between gray, silver and pale blue. The atmosphere is decidedly more intimate in the evening, giving way to the surrounding natural scenery. Long suspended blown glass tubes, surrounded by a metal cage, follow the rhythm of the pillars supporting the glass roof. Small lamps punctuate the tables with a halo, highlighting other creations, this time from the kitchen.
In order to create a gourmet, sensitive place that would prolong the excitement of discovering the museum, Michel and Sébastien Bras joined forces with designers to create the identity of the Halle aux grains and its table. The graphic approach of Anne Piscaglia and Guillaume Bullat plays with typography and grain, from the logo to the menus. The silhouettes of those who officiate at the service have been adjusted by the designer Catherine André who, immersed in history, was inspired by the costumes of the clerks who traded in the grain market. Elise Fouin draws from the earth, its seeders and furrows to deliver a table service in evocative stoneware. The nickel silver knife designed by Hanika Perez and Brice Genre, with its minimal, raw and elegant design, has a particular symbolic importance for the Bras. It becomes the guests' companion throughout the meal, making the tool and the precious moment spent at this table, always full of attention for its guests, even more personal.
