Tour Eiffel: Alain Ducasse

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Rumor has it that Alain Ducasse has set his sights on a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. Restaurants in La Dame de fer (the Iron Lady) are up for bid as part of general house-cleaning by Paris' new mayor (more, below), and, the story goes, Ducasse wants another piece of sky to call his own (see previous story). All the bidders for the restaurant have been sworn to secrecy, but the somehow -- perhaps over a glass or wine or cup of cafe au lait between friends -- names of the bidders have leaked out to the French press and on to the general public. The restaurant exciting Ducasse's interest in is currently called Le Jules Verne, 120 feet up the tower, on the second floor. It is a Michelin one-star restaurant. You go for the view, not the food. It and the other restaurants in the tower are run by Elior, a Paris-based catering company specializing in museum restaurants. Ducasse has aligned himself with the catering giant Sodexho, also partner with Suvir Saran. Think of the implications: in the future, Tom Cruise would have declared his love for Katie Holmes at an Alain Ducasse restaurant. The Times of London reports that Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, along with the tower management company, is trying to improve services and raise income. They are opening up many of the contracts French President Jacques Chirac signed when he was mayor of Paris between 1977-95. M Delanoë set the pace in July when he evicted the Racing Club de France, the most historic sporting association in the country and the training ground of many Olympic medalists, from its century-old site in the Bois de Boulogne in western Paris. The concession was won for an undisclosed sum by Arnaud Lagardère, the aerospace, arms and media tycoon. Mon Dieu, Quel scandale! Related news: Times (London) Le Figaro Previous articles: Top 49 Men 2006: Chef Winners Alain Ducasse: Top Men of 2006 John Grisham: The Broker Emeril Leads Space Race? Sodexho Signs Suvir Saran Michelin Guide New York 2006 Jeffrey Chodorow: Talent Agent? Arrests for Attempted Bombings of Ducasse's Ostape Les Enfantes Terribles devient terriblement vieux Alain Ducasse: Hyper Chef -- Now Serving Mars [Chefs & Branding - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog