Editor's Note:
Mari Rodríguez Ichaso has been a contributor to Vanidades magazine for several decades.
She is a specialist in fashion, travel, gastronomy, art, architecture and entertainment, film producer and style columnist for CNN en Español.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely his own.
Read more opinion pieces at cnne.com/opinion.
(CNN Spanish) -
Once in Paris –after reading about the site–, I sat down to eat on the bench named in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte, who is said to have frequented the restaurant centuries before. And I loved that feeling! Well, it is super interesting that old historical restaurants, favorites of celebrities for centuries, are still open and preserving their allure, and their legends.
Napoleon's seat (can you imagine how incredible?) Is only a short distance from the seat - also preserved as a relic - of the novelist Colette. And all this is part of the iconic Le Grand Véfour, located since 1784 in the Palais-Royal in Paris, one of the most historic restaurants in the world. And a site that has been a pleasure shared through the centuries by such fabulous figures as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Coco Chanel (she frequented it), Princes Rainier and Grace of Monaco and, in more recent years, Julio. Iglesias, Katy Perry, Naomi Campbell, and David and Victoria Beckham.
Also, in Paris, I have eaten happily (and delicious) at Le Procope, founded in 1686, one of the oldest restaurants in the world (where, according to legend, Napoleon would have left his tricorne on display!). Of course, in the great Parisian cafes in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, such as Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, which the legendary Ernest Hemingway adored and now love from Madonna and Beyoncé to Fernando Botero or Catherine Deneuve. It fascinates me to be there and to see the world that they have enjoyed browsing! And there is so much history - and fun historical gossip - related to those two cafes! So I encourage you to read about them.
Of course, the beautiful La Tour d'Argent - with a divine view of the Seine River - since 1582 has driven visitors from all over the world crazy, and it is said it was almost like the private dining room of King Henry IV, as he frequented it a lot.
In New York, there are places as iconic as the Cuban Victor's Café, a favorite of the most famous Latin American singers and actors for more than 50 years, from legends like Celia Cruz and Vicente Fernández to Enrique Iglesias, Juan Luis Guerra, Jennifer Lopez, Christina. Aguilera and Cameron Diaz.
The super-famous French bistro Balthazar, in New York's SoHo, for years has been, and is, the craze of the famous and the royal family of Monaco adores it, as do the Beckhams, Justin Timberlake and Kate Moss, and hundreds of international celebrities, like Queen Rania of Jordan.
Another historical wonder in New York and a favorite that I frequent often? The Fraunces Tavern, from 1762, where in 1783 George Washington bid farewell to a group of his officers and thanked them for their service, and where there is a shoe from his wife, Martha Washington, which he offered as a gift to Lady Mary Watts, daughter! of a general in the Washington Army.
And we must mention in New York the recently restored Serendipity 3 - founded in 1954 - where Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol himself enjoyed their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate and Mile Long Hot Dog. And when Warhol had no money, he paid the bill with drawings! Some painters living on the French Riviera did something similar - as they were not yet rich or famous, such as Picasso, Calder, Cezanne or Matisse - when they dined at the beautiful La Colombe d'Or, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and they couldn't pay the big bills they “donated” paintings, and in the bar and the eclectic dining room, next to the pool, we can still see many of their works. Another wonderful historical place with a fascinating past.
In Madrid, we have the ancient Nephew of Botín where, since 1725, they have eaten their famous suckling pig from the great painter Francisco de Goya to Ernest Hemingway and various kings and queens of Spain.
And I really enjoy touring its nooks and crannies and small rooms where it seems we are in the middle of medieval Spain.
As you can see, I love to sit "in the seat of celebrities" and recreate their tastes and favorite places.
And imagine them there in those years.
And think about what the world was like then.
It is part of the life of celebrities of all centuries, which has always attracted and fascinated us.
Something very XXI century!
And a kind of celebrity watching, in places with long years of existence and where you experience great curiosity about history.
