Maison&Objet Paris: carrying the fair on around a good table

Every year, Maison&Objet gives Paris a rhythm of its own. Designers, architects, decorators, buyers and art-of-living professionals gather around the new collections, the materials and the trends shaping tomorrow's interiors.

The fair is about furniture, objects, decoration and the art of hosting. When the day ends, that idea takes another form around a table, with a few glasses, a fine piece of beef and the time to carry the conversation on.

Paris, a city of creation and fine tables

Paris is not discovered through its monuments, its shops or its galleries alone. The city is also lived at the table.

After a day spent studying materials, discovering collections and meeting partners, lunch or dinner often becomes a pause. It is the moment to catch up with colleagues, host a client or simply take the time to look back on the day.

In the 9^th arrondissement, around the Opéra Garnier, the Galeries Lafayette and the Grands Boulevards, this Parisian life carries on well after the fairs close their doors. This is where À Côté welcomes its guests, at 16 rue La Fayette.

À Côté, a meat restaurant in the heart of the 9^th

À Côté is, above all, a meat restaurant. The house follows the spirit of the Parisian bistro, with a warm dining room, a French cellar and a table meant as much for lunch as for dinner.

People come to eat a fine piece of beef, but also for the time spent around the table. The team guides guests through the choice of the cut, its weight, how it is cooked and the wine that might go with it.

The idea stays simple: put the produce at the centre, let the craft speak and create a room people want to stay in.

Beef, a material chosen with care

For the professionals at Maison&Objet, the idea is a familiar one: before the finished product, there is the material. A wood, a leather, a fabric, a metal or a ceramic is never chosen at random. Its origin, its texture, its resistance and the way it responds to being worked all matter from the outset.

In the kitchen, the logic is close. Before the cooking, there is the beef.

À Côté works with Limousin beef, raised in France and fed on grass and hay. Origin, breed and feed already give the produce an identity before it ever reaches the plancha.

Then comes the craft. The rib is laid on its fattiest edge so that the natural fat begins to render, then the meat is seared before it rests. It is carved and finished in the oven to reach the requested doneness.

The know-how shows in those steps, without any need to overstate it.

The côte de bœuf, an emblem of the French table

At the centre of this experience sits the côte de bœuf. A large cut, a bone, precise cooking and a table around it.

The côte de bœuf is one of those dishes naturally associated with French cooking. It calls to mind bistros, long tables and meals you take the time to savour.

At À Côté, every piece is weighed before service and its weight is written on the slate. Guests choose the one that suits their table. Once selected, it is crossed off and set aside.

A few minutes later it comes back to the centre of the table, with homemade fries, salad, sauces and a bone marrow.

A French tradition lived at the table

The experience becomes French quite naturally — through beef chosen in France, the cooking, the sides, the cellar, the service and, above all, the time given to the meal.

It is not about adding references to Paris to create a set, but about letting the meal tell that tradition itself.

For a visitor in Paris for Maison&Objet, it is a simple way to discover another side of the city: the one shared around a table.

The art of hosting makes full sense around a table

Maison&Objet speaks of design and the art of living. A chair may be perfectly drawn, a table beautifully proportioned and a glass chosen for its shape, yet all these objects take on another dimension once they genuinely begin to be used.

At À Côté, the côte de bœuf arrives in the middle of the table, everyone helps themselves, the fries go round, a bottle is opened and the conversation carries on. That is the moment the art of hosting becomes real.

A nod to Italian visitors

Maison&Objet draws many international professionals, Italians among them. For them, the idea of a large cut of beef served to share may feel familiar.

The bistecca alla Fiorentina belongs to a culture where the meat, the produce and conviviality hold an important place. The French côte de bœuf tells another tradition, but the spirit of sharing naturally creates a link between the two.

The same parallel can be drawn around wine. Italian enthusiasts know Barolo well, often called "the wine of kings and the king of wines". At À Côté, the cellar tells a different geography, with a selection of French wines chosen to accompany the beef and the meal.

This is not about setting French and Italian traditions against each other, but about underlining what they share: respect for the produce, the wine and the pleasure of taking one's time at the table.

A table to carry the conversation on after Maison&Objet

After a day at the fair, the meal also becomes a professional moment: you meet a supplier, host a client, catch up with your team or pick up a discussion started a few hours earlier on a stand.

À Côté offers a more relaxed setting than a formal meeting, while remaining suited to a business lunch or dinner. The côte de bœuf lends itself particularly well to this kind of meal, since it naturally creates a centre to the table — something chosen together, then shared.

From Maison&Objet to a Parisian table

A day at Maison&Objet often begins in front of objects, tables, armchairs and materials meant to create places where people feel good.

In the evening, it is sometimes enough to keep it simpler: sit around a table, choose a côte de bœuf, open a bottle and let the conversation carry on.

Minutes from the Opéra Garnier and the Galeries Lafayette, À Côté offers that very Parisian experience, around French beef, a côte de bœuf at the centre of the table and the pleasure of sharing a real moment.