Maxim's is the name of a restaurant in Paris, France, located on the rue Royale. It is known for its art nouveau interior decor.
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History
Maxim's was founded during the Belle Époque, on April 7, 1893. The Vaudable family (Octave, Louis and François) have owned the restaurant for 50 years and in the nineteen sixties and seventies it became the most famous restaurant in the world, synonymous with the idea of fine cuisine. Chefs that worked at Maxim's included a young Wolfgang Puck.
Today
Today, the restaurant and the Maxim's brand belong to Pierre Cardin. Other Maxim's restaurants have been opened in Monaco, Geneve, Brussels, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. The Maxim's brand has been extended to a wide range of goods and services.
In popular culture
Caricature painting of Maxim's on CD cover of Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)
- Maxim's is featured in both Franz Lehár's operetta "The Merry Widow" (Die Lustige Witwe) and the subsequent "The Merry Widow" ballet.
- A popular Parisian urban myth has Ho Chi Minh working at Maxim's as a busboy and waiter when he was living as an exile in Paris in the early 1920s.
- Maxim's was also featured in the movie Gigi featuring French actors Maurice Chevalier, Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan. The story focused on the effort of two older women to train Gigi, the granddaughter of one and grandniece of the other, to become a courtesan. The movie is set during the Belle Epoque.
- Maxim's is mentioned in the 1979 Doctor Who serial City of Death.
