Sit down one evening at nightfall in the small lounge at l'Ecluse, 15 Quai des Grands Augustins, and let the charm work. Suddenly, you'll lose the notion of time here, perceiving not only the authenticity of the decor, but also that unique atmosphere that can only be found in places steeped in history!
Yes, you're in the Cabaret de l'Ecluse immediately after the end of the war!

And to get a better idea of what the Cabaret was like, we're going to let Pierre Tchernia, actor and witness of this party atmosphere and creative liveliness of the time. Let us together go through the preface of the book "Mémoires d'un Cabaret", by Marc Chevalier, who was one of the founders.

" …When a war ends, in Paris, a quarter has the honour of giving its name to the pleasure of liberty, to a sense of humour and to a taste for being provocative.
In 1945, Saint-Germain des Prés took the place of the Montparnasse quarter of the 1920s. Amongst the wine cellars of St Germain, "l'Ecluse" owed its special place to two special features - it was not in Saint Germain des Prés, and it was not a wine cellar."

The diver who decorated the entrance of this long bargee's bistro ogled the "Quai des Orfèvres" and the Saint Michel Bridge with his empty, Cyclopean eye.
…L'Ecluse thus offered an extremely varied music-hall show on a stage the size of a table: Marceau was a mimic, Lavalette a cabaret singer and Noiret a comedy actor.

"…they came to enjoy Cora Vaucaire; they came to see Barbara…
One of the most important elements of l'Ecluse's resources was having young artists, or rather young people who wanted to become artists, play there."

When Dominique Dhyser acquired the wine bars in 1995, the solution was simple : he needed to go back to the initial l'Ecluse concept of a warm welcome, seasonal cuisine with tastes created using authentic products from the land, a wide selection of Bordeaux wines which was as eclectic as possible, and the most inspired prestige vintages.

Becoming the ambassador of Bordeaux wines was the most Dominique Dhyser cherished wish of, the new owner of "l'Ecluse". A legitimate ambition when you know that 600,000 glasses of Bordeaux per year are consumed at "l'Ecluse".

Considering wine as a way of life, he wanted to create the most convivial atmosphere as possible around "l'Ecluse". That's why he opened "My Boutique" where you can find selections from the wine list, but also make real discoveries that are sometimes available in quantities so small that they do not appear on the wine list. This is how, for example, some of the initiated were able to acquire "Château d'Yquem 1986.