Public House brings a taste of good old London to Paris

(Image credit: Photography by Jérôme Galland)

Parisians no longer need to hop on the Eurostar for a taste of London. Chef Calum Franklin, aka The Pie King, has brought British cuisine across the Channel at Public House, a new British pub and brasserie in the heart of Paris.

Step inside Public House by chef Calum Franklin

Known as the American Dream in its former life, the restaurant was previously a kitsch diner-slash-go-go bar housed in the unlikely setting of a traditional Haussmann building. After the restaurant shuttered, the building sat abandoned for two years before being bought by hospitality experts Le Bertrand Group, who transformed it from an American Dream into a British one with the help of designer Laura Gonzalez, who has reimagined the traditional pub with a touch of French flair.

Public House Paris yellow-coloured reception area and plants

Blue-tilled column and retro dining seating at Public House Paris

On the façade, Parisian signwriting studio Enseignes Brillo has set the scene with the gilded gold lettering of ‘Public House’, while carpentry studio Design Bois upcycled the glass from the former restaurant to craft the glass and wood doors that lead into the main dining room. Inside, Gonzalez has stayed true to her signature mish-mash style while weaving in references to traditional British design; think a clash of checked fabric booths, studded tartan bar stools and a striped navy and burgundy carpet, which brings to mind British school uniforms. Above it all, Gonzalez has designed the contemporary abstract moulded ceiling, made up by Design Bois and painted in a shade of off-white by Atelier Roma to add a lightness to the room’s rich colour palette.

Overview of Public House Paris, boasting colorful flooring and seating

Overview of Public House Paris bar area, warmly illuminated

A mirrored staircase, more New York’s Studio54 than a traditional British pub, signals after-dark frivolities in the underground speakeasy, Divine House. Here Gonzalez has ramped up the tartan and added a bespoke collection of typical circular pub tables in an appropriate shade of British racing green. A selection of vintage lamps can be found dotted throughout the space, taken from the designer’s own collection of secondhand treasures, which are picked up on travels and placed in storage, just waiting for the right project.

Staircase at Public House Paris leading to the downstairs speakeasy

If the underground bar was made for evening soirées, then the first-floor restaurant is for summer days. Gonzalez has taken design cues from Provence with bright sunny shades, terracotta flooring, and Maison Gatti rattan chairs that nod to Parisian terraces. The same pub tables seen in the subterranean speakeasy appear in salmon pink, and tartan has been swapped out for colourful ceramics, most notably to frame the lava stone bar. Set off the second-floor restaurant is a space dubbed ‘The Gaming Room’, which takes diners back to Britain with more pub tables and more tartan, and the soon-to-be-added finishing touch, a traditional pub dart board.

Public House Paris' The Gaming Room bar area, boasting tartan walls

Public House is located at 21 rue Daunou, Paris

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Originally from Leeds, Nicola Leigh Stewart lived in London and Madrid before moving to Paris, where she writes about travel and food for the likes of Conde Nast Traveler, The Telegraph, The Times, Design Anthology UK, and Robb Report. She has also co-authored Lonely Planet guidebooks on Paris and France and teaches travel writing at the American University of Paris.