Maybe it was all the champagne, but it took me a long time to realize I had been looking at virtually the same menu in a host of Parisian hot spots. In case you are as slow as moi, the Costes brothers own half of Paris, and don’t bother changing the menu on their swanky parade of establishments (see the running list below).
Boring for us, big bucks for them: their approach has turned out to be a profitable business model.
The brothers Costes own 80% of the operation that makes the 1,800 little rolls and 1,500 pastries the Costes restaurants serve daily, 33% of the company that supplies the smoked salmon and other prepared foods, and 50% of the condiment supplier. All the Costes establishments are obliged to buy from these suppliers, no matter which member of the extended family is the majority shareholder. That’s a brilliant bump to the bottom line when the €10 slice of chocolate cake at Georges costs a little more than €2 to make!
1. Hotel Costes
2. Cafe Marly
3. Georges
4. L’Esplanade
5. L’Avenue
6. Cafe Costes
7. Cafe de la Musique
8. Etienne Marcel
9. Hotel Costes K
10. Cafe Beaubourg
