Le Paradis Latin can host galas, conferences, seminars, product launches, fashion shows, concerts, charity evenings and company dinner-shows for up to 650 seated guests, or smaller groups in its mezzanine, bars and private box. The venue is the oldest cabaret in Paris, at 28 rue du Cardinal Lemoine in the Latin Quarter, in the 5th arrondissement, a few minutes from Notre-Dame and the Panthéon.
Seminars and company events
The whole venue can be hired for a day or an evening, with up to 1,200 square meters, 650 seats and a modular layout. The site lists birthday parties, cocktails, conferences, fashion shows, company seminars, showcases and concerts, charity evenings, club nights, gala evenings, film and TV shoots and workshops.
The technical equipment is that of a working theater: a stage 9 meters deep, 12 meters wide and 4.90 meters high, a large illuminated staircase, three stage lifts, about 200 automated lights, follow spots, a lighting console, a 40-channel sound desk, wireless microphones, three video projectors, a large screen and three plasma screens in the lobby. An in-house sound and lighting team supports each event.
Companies that do not need the whole venue can book a dinner-show evening for their team: a meal served with a pre-show, followed by the revue L'Oiseau Paradis, staged by choreographer Kamel Ouali, for about three hours in total. From a certain group size, the private box or another space can be reserved so that colleagues watch the show together.
Rooms and capacities
Whole venue: up to 650 seats. Grande Salle: 200 to 450 places, a hall designed by Gustave Eiffel and listed in the heritage of the City of Paris. Mezzanine: 200 places, with a view over the stage. Bars Klimt and Napoléon: 20 to 100 guests, above the mezzanine, suited to cocktails. Private box: 12 places, with a direct view of the stage.
Catering
The menus are created by Guy Savoy, the multi-starred French chef, and change every six months, in April and October. Pierre Hermé, named best pastry chef in the world in 2016, has created the two desserts of the Prestige menu since 2022. Alternatives are offered for allergies, vegetarian diets and religious restrictions. Menus for private events are set with the sales team.
History and setting
Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul, ordered the building of a theater on rue des Fossés Saint-Victor in 1802. The Théâtre Latin opened the following year and drew writers such as Balzac and Alexandre Dumas. It burned down in 1870. For the 1889 Universal Exhibition the theater was rebuilt by Gustave Eiffel, with a metal structure resting on foundations of the 12th-century wall of Philippe Auguste, and it reopened on January 20, 1889 as the Paradis Latin. A dome bearing the words Opérette, Ballet, Pantomime and Excentricités crowns the hall.
The venue closed in the early 20th century and was abandoned in 1930. In 1973 developer Jean Kriegel bought the building, found Eiffel's structure and dome, and rebuilt the hall to the original plans, with a 17-meter ceiling and 70 Murano glass chandeliers. It reopened on November 14, 1977. Walter Butler acquired it at the end of 2018 and renovated it, adding the Klimt and Napoléon bars and redoing the private box.
Getting there
Metro line 10 stops at Cardinal Lemoine, and lines 7 and 10 at Jussieu. Buses 47, 63, 67, 86, 87 and 89 stop nearby. The Maubert Collège des Bernardins car park, at 35 boulevard Saint-Germain, is open 24 hours, and there is a taxi rank on Cardinal Lemoine.
