Au Rocher de Cancale

**Status:** The historic site survives; the nineteenth-century restaurant was a celebrated oyster house and supper destination. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Rocher_de_Cancale)) **Literary passage:** “The dinner at the Rocher de Cancale was exquisite.” — Honoré de Balzac, *Lost Illusions*. ([gutenberg.org](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/13159/pg13159-images.html)) **Why it matters:** Balzac repeatedly brings ambitious men, actresses, dandies, and journalists here because the Rocher de Cancale joins appetite to social maneuver. It is where literary aspiration mingles with seduction, money, and display. The place-name gives Balzac instant access to a whole ecosystem of Parisian nightlife: oysters, after-theatre suppers, and the expensive intimacy in which alliances are made and souls are sold. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Rocher_de_Cancale))

78 Rue Montorgueil, 75002 Paris, France. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Rocher_de_Cancale))