Global delights, veggie cuisine and local flavours: Inside the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Village restaurant
The tone is set even before you enter the building.
To reach the Olympic and Paralympic Village restaurant, you cross a majestic alley lined with over 200 flags. However, the interior of the restaurant is even more impressive. Nestled in the nave of the Cité du Cinéma in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, the dining areas offer an enchanting setting.
“That's what the Paris 2024 Games are all about: a spectacular moment where we honour our heritage, and this is the case with this restaurant,” explained Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet.
On Tuesday 25 June, 150 guests, including journalists, were given the opportunity to sample the food and beverages that will be available to Olympic and Paralympic athletes throughout the summer.
The organisers and chefs have come up with four main themes, divided into six areas: two international cuisines, two French cuisines, one Asian cuisine and one African and Caribbean cuisine.
“We're in France, so we wanted to offer both quality, with 500 recipes devised by chefs, and a real diversity of meals, so that all the world's athletes can find what they like to eat before their competition, and those who will be staying for several weeks can enjoy the pleasure of being in France,” continued Estanguet.
For this first full-scale test, only meals falling under the “world cuisine” theme were available. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at the Paris 2024 restaurant.
Un cuisinier sert un convive lors du test du restaurant du village des athlètes, le 25 juin 2024 à la Cité du Cinéma, à Saint-Denis.
A restaurant catering to the needs of the athletes
The aim of the test was to put guests in the shoes of the athletes, so that the guests “feel at home”.
An “athlete's path” has been created, starting at the entrance to the Cité du Cinéma, with new sanitary facilities and signage adapted to the needs of Paralympic athletes. Next to this stands a reception desk where athletes can be guided through the space and given advice on meals.
This is followed by a hand-washing area before you arrive at the real entrance. Next is an area where you can pick up a tray, cutlery and napkins, followed by a salad bar, with plenty of raw produce so athletes can choose their favourite items.
After passing the salad bar, we enter the area's patio, which is reminiscent of a large, bright canteen. On the left, you continue along the path to find yourself in front of an area with a broad array of food: different types of bread, toasters, dairy products, cheeses, desserts, hot dishes featuring international meals and grilled meats, pastas and pizzas. For the test, the international stand included a mouth-watering selection: lamb moussaka sits next to salmon koulibiac and an enticing saffron rice. It's enough to tickle the tastebuds of any guest.
After collecting our food, we pass by the cold drinks fountains, with sodas, water and orange juice on offer. Now it's time to sit down at one of the many tables set up in this large open-air patio. Including the six catering areas, there are 3,300 seats available.
In the centre of this room, there is a large condiment table, where the athletes will find everything they need to season their dishes. This central island is particularly useful at breakfast time, as it is also stocked with oatmeal, cornflakes and hot beverages.
Finally, once they've finished their meal, the athletes will follow the exit route, with a large sorting area to collect organic waste so that it can be managed for processing. The sorting area also serves to organise the removal of all crockery before leaving the premises.
A “zero waste” policy and a focus on “Made in France”
Paris 2024 intends to respect its ecological commitments throughout all operations in this large-scale restaurant. The aim of the XXXIII Olympiad is to achieve “zero plastic” in catering and to halve the carbon footprint of plates.
With this in mind, 200 water, soda and orange juice fountains have been installed, and only reusable cups are available. So goodbye plastic bottles.
The crockery is also reusable and will have a second life at the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Around 35,000 plates will be redistributed to the kitchens of Sodexo Live!, the group in charge of the restaurants in the village.
In keeping with this ecological and environmental ambition, 80 per cent of the dishes served are of French origin, with 25 per cent originating within a 250 km radius of the village.
Finally, Paris 2024 has signed an agreement with several associations, including the Fédération Française des Banques Alimentaires (French Federation of Food Banks), to combat food waste. Every day, these associations will collect the food that hasn't been consumed and redistribute it to people in need.
Dishes to satisfy every athlete
Over 500 recipes have been developed by the chefs of Sodexo Live!, including over 50 hot dishes ready to be served every day. That would usually be enough to satisfy almost anyone but a small omission catches the attention of the guests in attendance: where are the fries that could accompany the grilled meats and other dishes?
“We can't set up a deep-fryer”, explained Estelle Lamotte, assistant manager of the Village restaurant, while revealing that there will be no fried food in the restaurant.
“The technical issues, particularly the fact that the building dates back to 1903 and has been converted into a restaurant with several areas, were a challenge. And we're not allowed to cook under a canvas, so there's no deep fryer,” she continued.
However, athletes should have more than enough choices thanks to the different themes offered by the restaurant.
“At the salad bar, for example, 40 per cent of the items will be related to the region, so here in the ‘world area‘, we have roasted sweet potatoes but you'll also find manioc flour in the African-Carribean area, rice noodles for the Asian cuisine or gluten-free penne in French cuisine,” explained Charles Guilloy, executive chef of the village.
“The desserts are also themed: in the French section, you'll find a Parisian flan, a lemon-meringue tartlet, a Paris-Brest, while in the world cuisine section, you'll have cheesecake, banana bread and tiramisu,” he added. “The same goes for the bread: in Asian cuisine, you'll find naan, while in world cuisine, you'll find tortilla and focaccia.”
To find their way around easily, athletes will have access to a mobile app which they can use to view the different menus. “The idea is to make them travel”, concludes Guilloy.
Listening to the athletes
In order to satisfy the needs of everyone, athletes were asked about their eating habits and preferences prior to the Games.
“Along with Sodexo Live! we have created an offering that satisfies all needs and expectations to provide them [the athletes] with the best food possible,“ explained Grégoire Béchu, the sustainable food project manager at Paris 2024, who has worked on this project for four years.
“We spent a lot of time talking with the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees in order to understand the expectations of the athletes. We created a survey and over 200 athletes were consulted.”
Some clear preferences emerged from the answers. “Before the competition, they want to have a familiar, reassuring diet, and after the competition, there is a moment of pleasure when they want to discover a French recipe or different things they're not used to eating.”
There has already been a positive reaction to the cuisine. For Brice Guyart, a two-time Olympic fencing gold medallist, the test was a success.
“For athletes who competed at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, we're well ahead in terms of quality and service levels,” he said.
“It's a healthier and more vegetarian diet than the one I experienced,” he admitted. And the numbers back up his assertion: 40 per cent of the dishes are vegetarian.
Nutritionists on hand to assist athletes
Finally, athletes will be able to seek advice from nutritionists who speak French, English, Mandarin, Spanish and Russian, if needed.
One of them will be present at the restaurant every day from 10 am to 6 pm, while the restaurant will be open 24 hours a day so that athletes can eat at any time.
Furthermore, each dish or ingredient will include a small nutritional fact sheet indicating the calories and joules per 100 grams of food.
The restaurant plans to open officially on 12 July, before welcoming the first athletes on 18 July.
Catering at the Olympic and Paralympic village, facts and figures
- 15,000 athletes
- Up to 40,000 meals served per day
- More than 1,000,000 meals served during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024
- 3,500 seats in the Olympic and Paralympic Village canteen
- The Olympic and Paralympic Village canteen will be open 24/7 from 12 July onwards
- Over 500 recipes created by the chefs of Sodexo Live!, including 50 different hot dishes every day
- 200 cooks working every day at the Olympic and Paralympic Village
- 800 m2 of cold rooms
- 600 tons of fresh products delivered by Carrefour
- 80 per cent French products
- 30 per cent organic food (or food from farms going through organic conversion)
- 100 per cent of the French regions will be represented
L'un des six espaces qui constituent le restaurant du village des athlètes. Le 25 juin 2024 à la Cité du Cinéma, à Saint-Denis.