Flo Group buys La Coupole

[fresh_a]

http://www.gastronomie.com/afp/gastronomie...04.4vcp1f6n.asp

[John Talbott]

http://www.gastronomie.com/afp/gastronomie...04.4vcp1f6n.asp

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Oh well, I suppose now it will go the way of Balzar; speaking of which, since John Whiting's visit in 2001, anyone else tested the Flo/Balzar waters? As the sometimes maligned Olivier Morteau noted, stand-alone places, esp brasseries, are fewer & fewer. I'll be posting news in the Digest soon from Figaroscope Wednesday, of the Brasserie Lorraine's reopening after extensive renovation; made possible by monies no doubt from Les Frères Blanc.

[Lesley C]

I dined at La Coupole about 5 years ago and they were already owned by Flo. Read the article carefully, I believe they are buying it back (racheter, not acheter).

I guess they sold it along the way and are now buying it back.

[Bux]

I dined at La Coupole about 5 years ago and they were already owned by Flo. Read the article carefully, I believe they are buying it back (racheter, not acheter).

I guess they sold it along the way and are now buying it back.

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Thanks for confirming that. At my age I worry when I have to question what I remember and in connection with la Coupole, I remembered that it was a Flo brasserie when I last considered it for dinner. I am not at all convinced that Flo has ruined any of the places it bought, or at least that they were likely to suffer a worse fate had they not been taken over by the Flo group. Les Grande Marches, I believe that's the name of the contemporary restaurant/brasserie they opened near the Opera, (Bastille) was a pretty decent place in it's own right when I ate there a few years ago.

[chopper]

The Flo group have been managing (under contract), and running commercial operations at La Coupole since 1990; the management contract was renewed every six or so years. They have now purchased the business out right, they now own anything physically linked to the space and name.

At least that's what the article says...

[John Talbott]

I dined at La Coupole about 5 years ago and they were already owned by Flo. Read the article carefully, I believe they are buying it back (racheter, not acheter).

I guess they sold it along the way and are now buying it back.

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It is my understanding that racheter means either "buy back" or simply "acquire" if it applies to used goods, a company or its stock. Thus, in the business pages (cf Figaro Entreprises) you often see "x rachte y cie."

But a native Francophone should chime in here, I'm hardly "Mr Language."

[fresh_a]

Flo was running the Coupole before.Now they own it.

[Bux]

Flo was running the Coupole before.Now they own it.

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As apparently they've been running it almost fifteen years, I'd expect no immediate changes. The Flo web site doesn't distinguish between ownership or management. It's quite a chain. There are 16 brasseries listed in seven cities including one outside of France--in Barcelona. I still maintain they're a decent place to eat a certain kind of food and I'm delighted to learn they offer a 20% discount on a meal if you reserve your table online. I would have eaten there last week if I had known that. Le Vaudeville was on our short list for two occasions. It's not exactly Olive Garden even if it's a chain. I don't really have much to say about the cooking. I think of it in terms of standards, oysters, raw bar, steak frites and andouillette.