Sodexo wins the tender to operate the Eiffel Tower restaurants with star chefs Frédéric Anton and Thierry Marx.
The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) awarded Sodexo a 10-year contract to manage the Jules Verne restaurant, the Brasserie on the first floor and the takeaways on the Parvis and each floor.
Nathalie Bellon-Szabo, Sodexo World Sports and Leisure Director, said: "We are pleased to continue the adventure alongside SETE for the next 10 years. The Eiffel Tower is the ultimate French symbol that the entire planet envies us, and a formidable flagship of France for the millions of visitors we welcome every year."
She adds: "At a time when France and Paris are preparing to welcome the entire world at major international events, we have made the bold decision to bring together a multidisciplinary team, and to rely on the exceptional alliance of two chefs who embody the gastronomy of our time, and bring us a more inclusive, open, modern and democratic vision of French cuisine.”
The agreement is effective as of October 1, 2018. This is a reallocation since Sodexo had already been operating the the Eiffel Tower restaurants for 11 years, but with Chef Alain Ducasse at the helm. For this new call for tenders, however, the Sodexo group was allied to chefs Frédéric Anton and Thierry Marx, as Alain Ducasse had teamed up with Elior.
The losing team challenged this decision before the Paris Administrative Court, denouncing a possible conflict of interest and a problem of impartiality vis-à-vis Nova Consulting, the firm in charge of the tender, having advised Sodexo on its strategy in June 2016.
