La Mère Catherine is considered the oldest little restaurant on Montmartre. It was opened by Catherine Lemoine in 1793 and named, in fact, after herself - “At Mother Catherine's.” The food was very tasty, home-style, so the establishment gradually became very popular.
And they say that Russian officers and Cossacks liked to drop in here during the occupation of Paris. But there was one problem - they did not like the slow service, so they kept urging the waiters on, shouting: “Quick! Quick!”. It is believed that this is where the term “bistro” came from, that is, a quick-service restaurant. A memorial plaque on the wall of “La Mère Catherine” says the same. Although etymology experts would surely tear this theory to pieces, who listens to them. It is much nicer to sit at a table in a cafe in the center of the city of lovers and imagine that almost 200 years ago there were Russians here too, who not only sampled the local cuisine but also left their mark on history.
And they really do cook wonderfully here, and they try to maintain the interior in the same old-fashioned style: checkered tablecloths, paintings on the walls, etc. The only thing is that the service has, they say, become noticeably faster since those distant times, which, of course, is good news.
