Legendary restaurant and club CASTEL in Paris is famous for having hosted the best nights out for many generations of Parisians. Located in a "hotel particulier" in the tiny rue Princesse in the 6th arrondissement, the club's decor is very intimate. Laid out with dark carpet and red velvet on the walls, it's a series of narrow corridors and even narrower staircases that lead to a dining room on each of the 3 floors, some having no apparent windows and the only way out was the way you came in. Not for the claustrophobic.
In December last year I was invited to attend a private dinner organized by a whisky brand that promised to have celebrities, cuisine and entertainment.
The theme of the night was "KNIGHT CLUB"… a sort of medieval chivalry themed evening with owl tamers greeting you at the door. I forgot the name of the chef but he was specially flown in for the occasion and was asked to come up with a surprise menu that would be out of the ordinary.
Up on the first floor, the celebrities (artists, actresses, Miss France.. etc) started to fill in and the nonetheless famous paparazzi (in Paris, there are just 3 or 4 of them that go out every night, the same photographers for the past 20 or 30 years) came in to shoot amicably their subjects. I was seated at the sponsor's table and was turning my back to the "people". I couldn't avoid the yoga back twist to get a glance at them. But I was much more concerned about the subject of conversation with my table companions and to where the shortest way to the street was, in case of emergency, than the who's who I was sharing the room with. (more…)
