Brasserie

Not to be confused with Brassiere.

The front of Brasserie Lipp in Paris

A riverside brasserie in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

In France and the Francophone world, a brasserie (French pronunciation: [bʁas.ʁi]) is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word brasserie is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing business". A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen—unlike a bistro which may have none of these. Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and serves the same menu all day. A classic brasserie dish is steak frites.

Etymology

"Brasserie" is French, literally, "brewery", from Middle French brasser "to brew", from Old French bracier, from Vulgar Latin braciare, of Celtic origin. Its first usage in English was in 1864.

The origin of the word probably stems from the fact that beer was brewed on the premises rather than brought in: thus an inn would brew its own beer as well as supply food and invariably accommodation too. In 1901 Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language defined "brasserie" as "in France, any beer-garden or saloon". In 2000 The New Penguin English Dictionary included this definition of "brasserie": "a small informal French-style restaurant".

Northeast France and the United Kingdom

In Northern France, particularly towards the Belgian border (an area traditionally redolent of brewing French style beers), there has been a welcome revival of old breweries which have been converted into restaurants and hotels, reverting to brewing their own beer as micro-brews. The term is often used in the United Kingdom applied to small metropolitan restaurants, usually in city centres, however it generally has no connection with brewing.

See also

• À la Mère Catherine (a Parisian brasserie founded in 1793)
• Café
• French cuisine