May 11, 2005
NO WORK, PLEASE, WE'RE FRENCH... (via Robert Schwartz):
The Oh-So-French Bistro Is Acquiring a New Accent (CRAIG S. SMITH, May 10, 2005, NY Times)
Brasserie Eiffel-Kennedy is a typical French bar-tabac and restaurant.Lunchtime regulars belly up to the brass-topped bar, sipping tall glasses of beer or squat stems of dark red wine. A large chalkboard looms over the red-and-white checked tablecloths, listing the standard "specials" of the day: steak tartare, pavé au poivre and sole meunière.
Its owner, too, is increasingly typical these days, even if he is not typically French. His name is Hingkeung Kwan.
"We are still new in this line of work, but Asians are taking over," said Mr. Kwan, sitting in his brasserie named for the boulevard it faces and for the famous tower across the Seine that can be glimpsed from some of its tables.
Ethnic Chinese, hailing from China, Cambodia or Vietnam, are fast replacing the French as proprietors of one of the capital's quintessential establishments, the neighborhood bistro. While their presence is growing in the familiar cafes and brasseries of the genre, it is particularly strong in so-called bar-tabacs, establishments licensed to sell alcohol and tobacco, which also frequently serve food.
Gérard Bohelay, president of the Tobacconists Union in the Paris region, says Chinese now own a quarter of the capital's bar-tabacs and represent nearly half of the buyers of such businesses these days. The percentage owned by Auvergnats, French with roots in France's central mountainous Auvergne region, who have been the traditional proprietors for more than a century, has shrunk to 50 from 80 in the past two decades.
One reason is that a dwindling number of young people want to spend their life working behind a cash register or a bar, particularly as proprietors of a place that sells cigarettes. Under France's strict rules, a person licensed to sell tobacco must remain on the premises while it is open for business, typically from dawn to well after dusk.
But immigrants like Mr. Kwan are willing to work the long hours. "Working is in our spirit," he said.
France without the French will be a huge improvement. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 11, 2005 9:22 AM
You forgot the money quote at the end.
But he doubts his children will follow in his footsteps. "My kids are too French," he said of his sons, 19 and 15, both raised in Paris. "They want to work 35 hours a week and enjoy long weekends."
Posted by: Rick T. at May 11, 2005 9:48 AM"Under France's strict rules, a person licensed to sell tobacco must remain on the premises while it is open for business, typically from dawn to well after dusk."
Excessive government regulation destroys another tradition.
Although I must say that if Cantonese bring their culinary skills onto the French template, the results could be impressive. Chinese food in France is Vietnamese-flavored and, for the most part, dismal. A little Hong Kong flair could go a long way.
Posted by: bart at May 11, 2005 10:39 AM"you forgot the money quote at the end"
Your right Rick, funny how that quote was overlooked.
Posted by: h-man at May 11, 2005 11:37 AM"France without the French will be a huge improvement."
That depends. If its the Arabs, it isn't.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at May 11, 2005 12:09 PMoj,
Reminds me of the year or so I lived in West L.A. circa 1983. There was a Von's grocery store (now owned by Safeway) there, almost on the 405 freeway, that had a bagel bakery which outsold all others in this highly Jewish enclave.
It was owned and run by Vietnemese immigrants.
Mike