Paris (AFP)

Its chic Italian restaurant, a stone's throw from the Champs-Elysées, is the privileged canteen of PSG stars: from Kylian Mbappé to Neymar, everyone throngs in Mehdi Abdelhedi's establishment, which promotes personalized cuisine and guaranteed discretion. .

When Leandro Paredes looked for a place to celebrate his 26th birthday on July 1, the Argentinian community did not have to think long as this restaurant, Le César, appeals to the demanding Parisian locker room. Sober entrance, private corner, the place has established itself as a place of relaxation where players like to meet after matches.

"It's like an annex of PSG", congratulates AFP Mehdi Abdelhedi, the owner of the restaurant, located a hundred meters from the Arc de Triomphe.

Since the opening of his establishment in 2007, the 36-year-old restaurateur has created a bond of trust and complicity with his select clientele. To the point of being on the list of VIP guests at Neymar's birthdays, or sharing a game of Monopoly with Kylian Mbappé after a meal.

"The place is identified with me. If it was a boss who was 60-70 years old, it wouldn't be the same. We can go clubbing together, go shopping together. They come to eat but also for a chat. We have the same areas of interest, ”he explains.

- The "punishment" of Nenê -

"They have never looked at the menu or opened the menu. Each time, I ask them if they want fish or meat: + Tell me what you don't like and then let me do +". The kind of detail that makes the difference, he says.

Feeding into the world of catering from a young age, Mehdi Abdelhedi followed in the footsteps of his father Mohamed, a Tunisian immigrant who went from "simple diver" in a pizzeria to the owner of several brands in the early 2000s.

"My father would have preferred me to be a doctor or a lawyer," he says. But after a commercial BTS, he dropped his studies to get fully involved in the family business by ensuring the move upmarket of restaurants.

The meeting with Hatem Ben Arfa, the arrival of the Qataris at PSG in 2011 and above all the "punishment" of Nenê, the Brazilian star at the time, will do the rest.

"He said to me: + I arrived late for training with Javier Pastore, we have to organize a dinner with all the staff to be forgiven by Carlo Ancelotti. Can you privatize part of the restaurant for us? + . From there, it clicked. The whole team started to come on their side. "

- Compulsory passage to integrate -

David Luiz, Dani Alves, Neymar ... With each new arrival, word of mouth does its job. To the point of becoming a necessary step to integrate into the capital, like Thomas Tuchel, seen in the establishment just after his appointment as coach in 2018.

In this Parisian "second house", important transfers can even materialize in the back room according to several witnesses.

"A few days after the Blues' victory at the 2018 World Cup, Kylian (Mbappé), who wanted to please me, let me work with his medal around my neck, he says. People did not stop to take pictures! "

Very present on social networks, where he publishes the pictures with each guest of visiting mark, his proximity to the stars of the PSG represents a huge product of appeal to attract the "normal" clientele, who make up 90% of the 120 covers served. noon and evenings.

"Some evenings, customers can wait two hours before coming home. I sometimes tell them + here, it's not Space Mountain! + But they know there will necessarily be someone" famous, smiles -he.

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