Legend has it that a soup salesman named Boulanger opened the first modern restaurant 250 years ago in Paris. But when one historian went looking for proof, she found things were not so clear.

Back in the 18th century, few city-dwellers had the means for personal kitchens at home. So before a brasserie sprung up on every corner, they ate from communal platters laid out for inn guests or bought oysters and such from street vendors. If they had a little more time and money to spend, they could visit multiple traiteurs specialised in particular trades or guilds, like roasting meat or baking bread.

Everything changed with Monsieur Boulanger around 1765, at least, according to the bible of French gastronomy, Larousse Gastronomique.

The sign allegedly proclaimed, “Boulanger débite des restaurants divins,” Now, the word restaurant here refers to rich broths then considered capable of restoring one’s health. Restaurant used in many languages today actually comes from the French verb restaurer, meaning “to restore or refresh.”

According to Larousse and other encyclopedic food tomes, all seemed to be going deliciously until Boulanger had the nerve to serve sheep’s feet in a white sauce—pieds de mouton à la sauce poulette.

While the sheep’s feet probably tasted as expected, this problematic menu tested the rules of the time. Boulanger’s competitors said his new dish took soup to stew status. That’s because until the French Revolution, authorities required butchers, bakers and other makers to stick to their own trade.

As the story goes, Boulanger found himself forced to convince the courts that—by separately preparing the egg yolk-enriched sauce on the side, then pouring it over the cooked mutton—he did not step on the traiteurs’ territory of slowly cooking multiple ingredients together in a ragout.

Apparently he won, because Boulanger’s first restaurant still tops many of the history books.

Boulanger’s place was likely a pretty basic affair. Larousse Gastronomiquecredits the Grande Taverne de Londres, which opened in 1782, as the “first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name” for its varied menu and individual table ambiance.