On Friday, July 12, the Athletes' Village restaurant will open its doors in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. Nearly 15,000 competitors from around the world will dine there for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic (July 26 to August 11) and Paralympic (August 28 to September 8) Games. Service provider Sodexo Live! describes it as "the world's largest restaurant".
Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the duration of the event, the 3,500-seat restaurant will be designed to meet the high expectations of competitors, with nutrition key to sporting success. Nutritionists will be on hand to answer any queries. Catering for the tastes, eating habits and energy requirements of each discipline required an organizational marathon of nearly three years to obtain the approval of the International Olympic Committee.
Eventually, 500 recipes were finalized, but neither French fries nor burgers will be found on the menu. Yet, at the London 2012 Games – which served as a benchmark, according to Philipp Würz, Paris 2024's catering manager – athletes were able to order them. Although it must be noted that McDonald's was a sponsor... But the partnership between the US fast-food chain and the Olympic Games, which began back in 1976 in Montreal, came to an early end in 2018.
Coca-Cola, which has been in business for almost a century, however, is still in the race. The ubiquitous soda will be supplied to the athletes in their restaurant, via fountains dispensing no fewer than six of the Atlanta-based firm's products. Coca-Cola, Coca Zero, Fuze Tea and Tropico, as well as Chaudfontaine water, available in still and sparkling versions, will be flowing freely.
Other sponsors on board for the catering include Danone, with its dairy products, such as the Hipro range of high-protein yogurts. Carrefour will supply the site with fresh produce, giving priority to locally produced products. Athletes will find a salad bar and a fruit stall, alongside cheese and dairy stands, desserts, soups, grills, pizzas, daily specials and pastas, a bakery and a hot buffet. The organization will be based on four geographical areas – France, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and World Cuisines – to satisfy every palate. A third of what's on offer will be vegetable-based.
Outside the restaurant, athletic gourmets will have access to a tasting area where three partner chefs – Akrame Benallal, Amandine Chaignot and Alexandre Mazzia – in association with Sodexo Live! chefs Charles Guilloy and Stéphane Chicheri, will take turns presenting dishes, in a showcase for French gastronomy.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.