“World’s Largest Restaurant” Takes Part in Paris Olympics

Located north of Paris, the Olympic Village will be home to 15,000 athletes from around the world during the 2024 Olympics. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, they will have access to the village’s main restaurant, which occupies the Cité du Cinema, a space previously used as a film production center.

According to information on the Olympics website, the interior of the restaurant has 3,500 seats and will serve until 40 thousand meals a day . Officially opened on July 12, the restaurant will begin receiving the first delegations on July 18 and has already been called “the biggest in the world ” – at least during the period in which it will be in operation.

Around 500 recipes have been created for the Games by the team at Sodexo Live!, the catering company behind the restaurant and other food courts in the village. Of the 500 dishes, more than 50 will be hot and ready to be served daily.

In total, the village should have 200 cooks, who will be under the supervision of the executive chef. Charles Guilloy .

Check out some numbers from the “world’s largest restaurant” at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games:

• More than 1 million meals will be served during the Olympic and Paralympic Games;
• 40% of dishes are vegetarian;
• 80% are French products, 25% of which come from within a 250 km radius of the village;
• 30% are organic foods (or foods from farms that undergo organic conversion);
• There are 800 m² of cold rooms;
• There are 200 fountains of water, soda and orange juice in the restaurant,
• 206 nationalities will be served during the Olympic Games.

Cod, pork and shrimp on the menu

The restaurant has four types of cuisine: from France , from Asia , from Africa and the Caribbean is International . Some of the recipes found there are: cod brandade (France); minced pork and basmati rice (Asia); fried shrimp with chermoula sauce (Africa and the Caribbean); and vegetarian moussaka (international). Fried foods are not on the menu.

The buffet also has several types of bread, dairy products, cheeses, pasta and pizzas. According to Renata Parra , Nutrition Coordinator of the Brazilian Olympic Committee the village offers different types of food and it is up to the athlete to decide what to put on their plate.

“There is a more spicy, more fatty diet, but also one that is nutritionally balanced. So there is the healthier part and then there is the part of pizza, hamburgers and soda all the time,” he comments.

Desserts are also themed: in the French section, for example, there might be Parisian pudding and lemon meringue tart; while in the international cuisine section there is cheesecake and tiramisu. Water, orange juice and soft drinks are among the drinks and the cups will be reusable.

In addition to executive chef Charles Guilloy and Stéphane Chicheri from Sodexo Live!, some recipes were created in partnership with renowned chefs. They are: Alexander Mazzia from the three-star AM, in Marseille; Akram Benallal from an Akrame star, in Paris; and Amandine Chaignot ; from Pouliche Paris and judge on the French “MasterChef”.

Signature dishes include poached egg croissant with artichoke cream, goat cheese and truffle, by chef Amandine Chaignot; smoked salted hake with tapioca in vegetable broth, by chef Alexandre Mazzia; and tandir chicken, by chef Akrame Benallal.

According to the Olympics website, it’s not just the chefs who will be getting their hands dirty: the athletes will also be able to make their own baguettes in the village bakery alongside the kitchen staff.

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