Van Gogh was rarely to be found in the kitchen. As was customary for bachelors, he didn’t eat his meals at home. When he lived with Theo in Paris, they often dined together at restaurants in their home district of Montmartre.
The Grand Bouillon-Restaurant Du Chalet – a simple restaurant with fixed, affordable prices – was one of their favourites. Four menus from this restaurant remain, the reverse of which are full with Vincent’s drawings.
View 'Restaurant Menu' Gauguin was also single, but he did know his way around the kitchen. He often cooked during his time with Vincent in Arles. Van Gogh wrote in 1888:
‘He [Gauguin] makes a really interesting friend — I must tell you that he knows how to cook perfectly, I think that I’ll learn that from him, it’s really convenient.’
Vincent van Gogh, 'Exterior of a Restaurant in Asnières', 1887.
