Images courtesy of www.belmont-restaurant.fr
Fascinated by the world of catering from an early age, Alfred Bernardin always knew that he would become a restaurateur. After a varied career, he has recently opened a highly distinctive Parisian restaurant, Belmont.
After attending a hotel and catering school in Switzerland followed by further training at the Crillon in Paris and Le Méridien in London, this grandson of Alain Bernardin, the founder of the Crazy Horse, set off for Los Angeles where he became food and beverage manager at the Standard Hollywood before heading to Saint Barthélémy to manage Sereno Beach.
With this wealth of experience under his belt, he became food and beverage manager at Frederick’s in Manhattan. In 2006, he opened his own restaurant, Alfred, at 38 Avenue de Versailles in Paris. Four years later, looking for a change of direction, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father, a producer, managing Prince’s European tour which included two exceptional concerts at the Grand Palais.
A chance meeting with Maurice Renoma saw him return to his first love in order to inject a new lease of life into the Renoma Café Gallery on Avenue George V. In July 2011, he set himself the challenge of acquiring a former showroom between Montorgueil and Rue St Denis and opening, in November 2012, a restaurant called Belmont.
Belmont has been completely designed and decorated by its owner, Alfred Bernardin, and his team.
From Paris to Marrakech to New York, Alfred has sourced an array of vintage pieces and has designed the rest of the furniture, resulting in a bespoke atmosphere and a unique decor which is quite unlike any other.
Alfred mixes styles and materials to achieve a completely unexpected and highly original result. Chairs from the 1950s, 60s and 70s sit side-by-side with contemporary, designer-style pieces, everything carefully and precisely set out over the restaurant’s 250m² to leave an impression of orderly disarray.
Belmont appropriates the chic industrial spirit, offering traditional interior design, with a modern twist. Zinc blends harmoniously with the warmth of the dark, aged beech flooring. The noble material of a leather table marries perfectly with the cosy spirit of a Chesterfield sofa. The decor plays on geometry, blending round, square and oval shapes, beneath an Eiffel-style structure, with a 6m-high ceiling.
Decidedly singular, this new Parisian restaurant stands out for its unique style. It dares to break all the rules by mixing vintage with contemporary.
