Dining At The French Open Is A Locavore’s Treat

Past the champagne at Roland Garros, near both the brioche and focaccia sandwiches, the all-French dining at the storied tennis venue adds another distinctly Parisian twist: specialty desserts and pastries.

Roland Garros features roughly 60 French-based producers supplying all the ingredients needed for the all-local menu used at every dining spot on the grounds. In the uniquely French stadium culture that takes a different swing at concessions than a typical American venue, concessionaire Sodexo Live! has introduced a variety of new twists to the site to modernize the dining while retaining the singular French focus.

As Roland Garros—many Americans know the tournament as the French Open—welcomes roughly 40,000 fans per day, the dining operation includes roughly 40 dining spaces for the fans, but also three player restaurants and three staff and media restaurants.

Hospitality plays a key role in the Roland Garros experience and Yoan Le Chapelain, Sodexo Live! France director of sports and events, tells me that the 30 chefs and 200 culinarians brought on site for the tournament focus on a mixture of spaces, with 60% of the business coming from premium spaces.

While new hospitality packages feature a mix of four premium club-style locations and four different on-site venues, including the L’orangerie space inside a historic brick building in the greenhouses of Auteuil and between Philippe Chatrier Court and the garden court of Simonne Mathieu, one premium-styled location comes new for 2023 and opens to the public.

The 220-seat Brasserie des Mousquetaires restaurant offers one of the few sit-down opportunities for non-premium guests. Partnering with a Michelin-starred chef, Akrame Benallal, who Sodexo Live! is also working with for Paris 2024 Olympics menus, the Roland Garros team worked with Benallal to create the menu for the new space.

Located under Chatrier, Brasserie des Mousquetaires was formerly a staff restaurant, fully remodeled and outfitted for the public.

Premium aside, there’s plenty of fresh approaches for general fans at the smallest of the four major tennis sites.

A food court area near the viewing plaza outside of Chatrier includes four distinct takeaway stands all featuring key dishes from differing regions of France. These include a mix of focaccia sandwiches options, classic buckwheat pancakes, sausage rougail and fish and chips.

The food court area was expanded this year with additional seating.

The top-selling food items across the site include the focaccia sandwich made on site, a brioche sandwich with special recipes for Roland Garros, Caesar salads made on site, lemon pie made on site, cookies baked at the mobile cart (a new concept for 2023) and crepes and waffles.

With deliveries overnight refilling many of the key products, much of what is sold is produced on the grounds. Le Chapelain says they have moved toward making as many items daily as possible to ensure freshness and quality while limiting waste. “Local food is our priority,” Le Chapelain says, “and recipes and processes easy to produce and prepare.”

Roland Garros has also started experimenting with new concepts for tournament, including four marketplace-style retail options where fans select their own items out of refrigerators and cases and a pour-your-own beer stand, a first for Roland Garros.

A popular hamburger location tucked into Suzanne Lenglen Court also features kiosk ordering, something Le Chapelain says has sped service already this year as he hopes to expand the kiosk ordering options further next year.

The revolving mix of menu items from year to year keeps a focus on the most popular recipes while allowing chefs to experiment with new concepts. “We try to change 30% of the takeaway menu for the public each year,” Le Chapelain says. With a full-time chef dedicated to Roland Garros throughout the year, the offseason includes testing new dishes and ideas.

The signature drink on the grounds is champagne, provided by Moët + Chandon. While water remains the top-selling beverage at Roland Garros, not unlike almost every major sporting venue in the world, the number-two seller is champagne.

And it wouldn’t be Paris without that Yann Couvreur patisserie shop.

With the site’s record-breaking attendance during the qualifying week and string crowds continuing during the first week of the main tournament, Le Chapelain says it has been the best opening for a Roland Garros ever. “Both the business and the smile of the client,” he says about the success of the 2023 tournament. So, it’s going well? “Yes, very well.”