Picon celebrates its 175th anniversary! To mark the occasion, actor and writer Lorant Deutsch has exclusively redesigned 3 of the brand’s bottles in a “Bobo-Rétro-Vintage” style for a limited edition.
Interview with Lorant Deutsch
Your bedside book?
” ” L’Histoire de France” by Jules Michelet; because it’s what made me want to discover history. Michelet is a cautionary author, because you shouldn’t believe him when he tells his story. In fact, you shouldn’t believe anyone who tells the history of France. The History of France is not a hard subject, it’s not a fact, it’s an enlightenment, an orientation. The truth lies in the distance between what is presented and who is presenting it. The truth lies in the “who” and “why” the person is saying it. It’s fascinating!”
Your favorite author?
“Céline
Your mentor?
“An idol: Le chevalier Charrette, an anti-hero who died for his ideas, believing in justice with faith. He was driven by a powerful loyalty to his ideals, and he died for it. I believe that today this character is worthy of rehabilitation.”
More of a social evening or dinner with friends?
“Dinner with friends
With “Métronome”, you took us on a journey through French history, taking us around the bend in the metro stations. Did this give you the opportunity to discover any secret or unusual places, or Parisian bars?
“I like bars like L’Armagnac, with zinc and earthenware squares on the floor dating back to the 20s or 50s.
I’m lucky enough to have a great friend, Sophie de Suzanne, married to Richard.
They own 7 bars in Paris: L’Autobus impérial, Le n’importe quoi, they also have taverns, the Saint Georges on rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Les Dock near the Opéra…I often hang out in these bars.
Parisian memories are often to be found at the counter.”
Your favorite bar in Paris?
” I’m going to make an infidelity to brasseries, because I love brasseries and their bars with their old zinc counters…
My favorite bars are the Palace bars (e.g. the Georges V or the Lutetia). They’re very chic, hushed places, with an old-fashioned, belle époque feel… You’ll come across a rather special clientele, from old regulars to visiting businessmen.
There are plenty of places to dream.
Céline sits on the terrace of a café and says, “You can see the whole of Paris go by in the bars.
Your Picon moment?
At the “Doria” bar: When I was younger, I used to go fishing with my father. We’d leave very early in the morning and stop off at “Doria”, and my father would always have a Picon.
In all honesty, that was my Picon bière moment!”
You’ve signed three Picon bottles to mark the brand’s 175th anniversary. What inspired you to do this? an artist, an era, a memory?
“Why these characters? We’ve chosen “Salopette de l’ouvrier”, “Nappe rouge et blanche” and “Garçon de café” because they represent the rustic side of this pastoral, timeless France that gathers around the bell tower. Here, we’re in a café and the tablecloth is red and white. It’s a good table. And if everything disappears, if even the overalls disappear, we can grumble and make up over a good Picon.
The Picon bottle is like a soundtrack to my childhood and adolescence, with my father and his relationship with the bar. The cafetier, the man who runs the bar, has always been in charge of delivering the news, and was a kind of social link, before there was a schoolteacher in the countryside: there was the cafetier, the butcher and the priest. The priest held the science, the butcher held the wealth and strength, it was a bit like the corporation of the bourgeois. The cafetier was the one who carried the news, the one who forged links from one “country” to another. So he was looked down upon because he brought us news from outside, but at the same time we needed him to know what was going on. For me, coffee has this very important value, indispensable for linking a country and its villages. And in this coffee there are the immemorials since the 19th century, and Picon is one of these immemorials. He’s a bit like a catafalque, the guardian of the sanctuary.
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
