The "all-you-can-eat buffet" craze spreads across major cities in France.

From the suburbs to the city center, “all-you-can-eat buffets” are becoming a new part of French culinary culture: a place where people regain the feeling of being full, of choosing, of sharing.

According to the newspaper “Le Monde”, once popular around shopping malls and suburbs, “all-you-can-eat” buffet restaurants are now starting to flood into the centers of major cities such as Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, offering a culinary experience that combines fullness, fun and reasonable prices – a formula that is conquering both young people and French families.

In Paris, the restaurant “Envie Le Banquet”, which opened in September near the Place de la République, is causing a stir on social media with its lunch menu priced at 37 euros (42.6 USD) and dinner menu at 54 euros.

Owner Eloi Spinnler, 31, a celebrity chef on TikTok and Instagram, has created a “retro dining” space with Art Déco lamps, snake-shaped mosaic floors, and a buffet-style serving counter.

“The nice thing is you can taste everything you like,” said Garance Zacharias, 22, a tourist from Montpellier, after three rounds of food.

Not only Envie, the “buffet à volonté” (all-you-can-eat) model is blooming everywhere. From “Les Grands Buffets de Narbonne” - the “mecca” of buffet cuisine that attracts 400,000 diners each year - to “Les Grands Buffets lyonnais” or “Brique Machine Refill Club” in Paris, a series of new restaurants are taking advantage of the attraction of this model to attract customers during a difficult time for the food service industry.

“All-you-can-eat buffets give customers a sense of ‘good value for money’ – an important factor when many people complain about the ratio between bill and food in traditional restaurants. It contrasts with the tendency for small portions in bistronomic cuisine, which often frustrates diners,” says François Blouin, director of consultancy Food Service Vision.

At a time when restaurants are losing customers, the buffet model recreates the spirit of community, happy and cozy dining. Images of rich food stalls with eye-catching colors spread quickly on the internet, creating an attractive effect. “Buffets are places where everyone can find something they like, suitable for all tastes, religions or diets – very suitable for large parties,” Mr. Blouin analyzed.

In Lyon, Mr. Farid Mezaber - owner of the restaurant “Les Grands Buffets lyonnais” with a lunch price of 29 euros - said: “We expected customers to eat twice as much as usual, but in reality it was four times as much - an average of four appetizers and four main courses per person.”

The secret to profit, he says, lies in large scale of service (1,500 guests per week), low cost of ingredients (60% of dishes are pork), and high rate of drink orders (up to 95%).

Also in Paris, Baptiste Dufossez, owner of the restaurant “Brique Machine Refill Club”, had to adjust the menu after opening to improve quality and control costs. “I now have a net revenue 30% higher than the old model,” he revealed. With an area of ​​1,200m², this restaurant serves pizza, salad, fried chicken, fried squid… for only 19 euros/lunch, attracting thousands of customers every week.

The biggest problem with the buffet model is the risk of food waste. Many restaurants have introduced gentle deterrents: at Envie, guests are given instant photos if they finish their plates; at Boulom, a €36-a-portion buffet in Paris’s 18th arrondissement, leftovers are weighed and charged €2 per 100 grams. Chefs are also getting creative with recycling—crushed bread is used to make cheesecake bases, chicken bones are used to make broth, leftover vegetables are used as pizza toppings.

While there is still debate about whether “fullness equals deliciousness,” some chefs like Julien Duboué at Boulom restaurant have proven otherwise.

With a rich menu of Southwestern specialties such as roast lamb in a bread oven, duck sausages, or overnight braised beef ribs, he turns the buffet into a true culinary experience, both traditional and visually appealing enough to wow diners.

From the suburbs to the city center, “all-you-can-eat buffets” are becoming a new part of French culinary culture: where people find the feeling of being full, of choosing, of sharing - an experience that is both popular and carries the breath of the current economic crisis./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/con-sot-buffet-an-tha-cua-lan-khap-cac-thanh-pho-lon-cua-phap-post1074529.vnp