The interior courtyard.

"The private home that is now Taillevent was built in 1852---the first year of the Second Empire... For many years, the mansion housed the Embassy of Paraguay. Restaurateur André Vrinat founded Taillevent in 1946, near the Place Saint-Georges. The restaurant thrived, receiving its first Michelin star in 1948. In 1950, Vrinat moved his operation to its present address on the rue Lamennais, a few minute’s walk from the Champs-Élysées, in the Eight Arrondissement. Michelin awarded Vrinat’ restaurant, now a landmark, its second star in 1956. André Vrinat was joined by his son, Jean-Claude, a graduate of the Haute École Commerciale, the Harvard Business School of France, in 1962. They earned their third and final star in 1973."

- A Meal Observed, pp. 29-30