Parisians no longer need to hop on the Eurostar for a taste of London. Chef Calum Franklin, aka The Pie King, has brought British cuisine across the Channel at Public House, a new British pub and brasserie in the heart of Paris.
Step inside Public House by chef Calum Franklin
Known as the American Dream in its former life, the restaurant was previously a kitsch diner-slash-go-go bar housed in the unlikely setting of a traditional Haussmann building. After the restaurant shuttered, the building sat abandoned for two years before being bought by hospitality experts Le Bertrand Group, who transformed it from an American Dream into a British one with the help of designer Laura Gonzalez, who has reimagined the traditional pub with a touch of French flair.
On the façade, Parisian signwriting studio Enseignes Brillo has set the scene with the gilded gold lettering of ‘Public House’, while carpentry studio Design Bois upcycled the glass from the former restaurant to craft the glass and wood doors that lead into the main dining room. Inside, Gonzalez has stayed true to her signature mish-mash style while weaving in references to traditional British design; think a clash of checked fabric booths, studded tartan bar stools and a striped navy and burgundy carpet, which brings to mind British school uniforms. Above it all, Gonzalez has designed the contemporary abstract moulded ceiling, made up by Design Bois and painted in a shade of off-white by Atelier Roma to add a lightness to the room’s rich colour palette.
A mirrored staircase, more New York’s Studio54 than a traditional British pub, signals after-dark frivolities in the underground speakeasy, Divine House. Here Gonzalez has ramped up the tartan and added a bespoke collection of typical circular pub tables in an appropriate shade of British racing green. A selection of vintage lamps can be found dotted throughout the space, taken from the designer’s own collection of secondhand treasures, which are picked up on travels and placed in storage, just waiting for the right project.
If the underground bar was made for evening soirées, then the first-floor restaurant is for summer days. Gonzalez has taken design cues from Provence with bright sunny shades, terracotta flooring, and Maison Gatti rattan chairs that nod to Parisian terraces. The same pub tables seen in the subterranean speakeasy appear in salmon pink, and tartan has been swapped out for colourful ceramics, most notably to frame the lava stone bar. Set off the second-floor restaurant is a space dubbed ‘The Gaming Room’, which takes diners back to Britain with more pub tables and more tartan, and the soon-to-be-added finishing touch, a traditional pub dart board.
Public House is located at 21 rue Daunou, Paris
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeysStay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
-
Night at the museum: the best art hotels to book nowSleep amid surrealists at London’s Broadwick Soho, or wake up to contemporary favourites at New Hotel in Athens – indulge in an immersive art hotel experience
-
Shop hyperlocal gifts, from Harlem to Hawaii, at R Finds’ global online storeWallpaper* goes shopping with R Finds, Renaissance Hotels’ digital marketplace, which connects travellers – and armchair travellers – with local makers and stores, one gift at a time
-
This Italian Bistrot in Paris offers all-year-round ‘felicità’A diminutive of the Italian word for family, Miglia is a cosy trattoria radiating warmth, friendliness, and traditional flavours
-
Ski in, ski out at Courchevel’s hot new piste-side dinerLoulou, the new Courchevel restaurant inspired by Yves Saint Laurent’s muse, is playfully elevated by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s pop art branding
-
The cosiest alpine retreats to book in EuropeBrowse the Wallpaper* edit of European alpine retreats where to fully embrace the ski season
-
First look at Maison 3, an eclectic new Parisian bar for sleepless nightsMaison 3 is an enigmatic space with a sensual atmosphere brought to life by the French studio Les Beaux Jours Architectures
-
The world’s most enticing new hotel openingsExplore the best new hotels in the world, from a bijou addition to the London hotel scene to a lush safari adventure in South Africa
