La Cigale (brasserie)

The restaurant was designed by the architect and ceramicist Émile Libaudière in the exaggerated Art nouveau style of the era.^[2] On 1 April 1895, the brasserie was opened for business by its first owner, Mrs. Calado.

From the beginning the restaurant attracted a bourgeois clientele that mixed with artists from the nearby theater. The surrealists Jacques Prévert and André Breton were regular patrons.^[3] Scenes from several films have been shot there, including Jacques Demy's 1961 film Lola,^[4] Debout les crabes, la mer monte ! by Jean-Jacques Grand-Jouan (1983),^[5] and Jacquot de Nantes by Agnès Varda (1991).^[6]

In 1964, the brasserie was turned into a fast-food restaurant, but the decor remained unchanged due to the protections afforded by its status as a historical monument. During the 1970s, the restaurant was neglected and eventually abandoned. However, a new owner restored it back to its original brasserie form in 1982.^[2]