La Paix

La Paix is a restaurant of chef David Martin in the Corinthia hotel, the former Grand Hotel Astoria on Rue Royale in central Brussels. It holds two Michelin stars.

The restaurant was founded in Anderlecht in 1892, across the street from the city's abattoirs. For many years Roland and Jeanine Obbiet ran it as a family brasserie, and their daughter Nathalie Obbiet later took it over with her husband, Martin. The first Michelin star came while the menu was still that of a brasserie. When the couple turned La Paix into a fine-dining restaurant, the room shrank from 135 seats to 20.

Martin cooks modern French food with Asian, and in particular Japanese, influences. One of his plates joins lemon with caviar and langoustine. In Anderlecht the restaurant stood beside the Ferme Abattoir, an urban vegetable garden. Gault&Millau named Martin its Chef of the Year. French technique with Japanese seasoning lets the products speak with few additions, which suits a small room where every plate is watched closely.

After more than a century in Anderlecht, La Paix moved to the Corinthia, a Belle Époque landmark in the centre of the city. Martin and his wife own the old building, which they chose not to sell. The move takes a restaurant long tied to its home opposite the abattoirs into one of the grand hotels of the capital, while the same couple stay at its head.