On September 8, Paris’s oldest restaurant will, for one evening, set aside its culinary reputation in favor of a more unusual identity: that of a multi-level musical instrument, where four soloists from the Paris Opera will perform works by Mozart, Bach, and Piazzolla between the Bar des Maillets and the terrace overlooking the Seine.
We almost always associate the Tour d’Argent with its wine cellar, its “duck à l’orange,” or the view of Notre-Dame that its large windows have offered since 1582. It’s easier to forget that a century-old establishment of this stature can also be conceived as a sonic space—a layering of areas, each evoking a different acoustic experience and emotion. This is the challenge that the restaurant on the Quai de la Tournelle has chosen to take on this coming September 8, by entrusting four soloists from the Paris Opera with the task of taking its guests on a journey—no longer from dish to dish, but from floor to floor.
The tour begins at the Bar des Maillets, where Frédéric Chatoux, principal flutist of the Paris Opera, and Agnès Crépel, principal violinist of the same institution, perform the most luminous passages from *The Magic Flute*. The journey continues to the Appartement d’Augusta, a more intimate salon where violist Pierre Lenert joins Cécile Lenert for a program featuring two violas, blending Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow,” Massenet’s “Mélodie des Erinnyes,” and the “Hymn to Love”—a program selection that openly prioritizes emotion over technical virtuosity. At the top of the tower, cellist Aurélien Sabouret performs Bach’s First Suite and a movement from Gaspar Cassadó’s Suite as a soloist, before the four musicians reunite on the terrace for a finale combining François Borne’s “Fantaisie sur Carmen” with Piazzolla’s “Libertango.”
This vertical progression, from the bar to the top floor, is not merely a staging device: it reimagines, in its own way, the very essence of the restaurant, where each floor has always corresponded to a distinct purpose and atmosphere—from the informal lounge to the panoramic dining room reserved for special occasions. The culinary experience is no exception, featuring a glass of Tour d’Argent Grand Cru champagne to start, petit fours created by Chef Yannick Franques, and cocktails crafted by mixologist Andy Soto—all designed to serve as a musical score running parallel to that of the musicians.
Priced at 140 euros and limited to thirty-two seats, the event is aimed less at die-hard haute cuisine enthusiasts than at an audience curious to see a centuries-old institution venture beyond its usual repertoire. It remains to be seen whether this format—where music takes center stage over the food—will become a recurring event at the restaurant or remain a one-off, however successful it may be, in the already rich history of La Tour d’Argent.
Practical Information
Price: €140 (32 seats available)
Reservations
Tuesday, September 8, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
15 quai de la Tournelle, 75005 Paris
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