Spotlight on La Rochère

I discovered La Rochère glassware years ago, when I was in Paris working on the Bistro volume in my Menus and Music series. I was there meeting bistro chefs, discussing their recipes, and enjoying the incredible cooking at 26 bistros located throughout the beautiful City of Light. We dined at two different bistros every day, and this entire experience was a most amazing hands-on education about food and dining in the French style. And this is when I first enjoyed La Rochère classic bistro glassware!

After I returned home, I cooked French bistro chef’s recipes in my own home kitchen and then wrote a 250-page cookbook full of Parisian bistro recipes for home cooks. A few years later, I saw La Rochère again at a tradeshow in New York and immediately ordered some of their glass tumblers. Over the years at Menus and Music, I’ve added more than 20 different La Rochère pieces that have all been popular with our customers. La Rochère glassware is versatile, sturdy, and beautiful. It inspires relaxed dining every day, and it’s also great for spontaneous gatherings and special occasions.

For more than five centuries, La Rochère has created glassware in the village of Passavant-la-Rochère in eastern France. Each piece reflects the precision of the glassmakers, authentic traditional French design, and a dedication to quality and beauty.

The glassmakers use centuries-old methods that blend handcraft and innovation to create glassware that’s known for its clarity, strength, and signature La Rochère seam. They make beautiful objects that are meant to be used, shared, and enjoyed every day. The designs are simple, elegant and enduring.

Founded in 1475, La Rochère remains the oldest continuously operating glass factory in Europe. From their early days during the reign of Louis XI they were making bottles, windowpanes, and simple drinking glasses, and then they progressed to the 18th and 19th century introduction of pressed glass that enabled high-quality mass production.

In the Napoleonic era, La Rochère produced glassware adorned with emblems of the iconic Napoleonic bee, and this is still one of their most popular collections to this day. During the 20th century the Art Deco movement influenced their aesthetic, and today the new Alice, Quessant, and Versailles designs along with their other traditional designs are cherished in homes and institutions around the world.