Maison dorée (Paris)

The building at twenty rue Laffitte features a facade covered in ornate stone carvings and gilded balconies that catch the sunlight. This was the Maison doree, the most fashionable restaurant in Paris during the mid-nineteenth century. Regulars included the writer Honore de Balzac and the composer Gioachino Rossini, who famously had his own secret entrance to reach his preferred private dining cabinet. Elite Parisians gathered here to eat expensive food behind locked doors, away from the prying eyes of the public.