June 24, 2006
FINALLY, DECENT FRENCH FOOD:
A McDonald's Ally in Paris (JOHN TAGLIABUE, 6/20/06, NY Times)
Never mind that Denis Hennequin was the top executive here when a half-built McDonald's restaurant was bulldozed seven years ago to protest the Americanization of France."We are an icon, a symbol, we don't claim to be otherwise," Mr. Hennequin said. "Yes, we were shocked," he went on, recalling how his business meeting was interrupted by the news of the bulldozing.
But even as protesters sought to cast McDonald's as the embodiment of all that is wrong with fast food and American culture, the French never stopped eating its hamburgers. Indeed, for all the attacks on the company, McDonald's operating profit in France last year was second only to that of McDonald's in the United States.
You'd think the Germans and Brits would be even more desperate for something edible. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2006 10:59 AM
I admit to more than a slight frisson of joy during the riots last winter but I am not far enough gone into FDS (akin to BDS) than I cannot acknowledge France's contribution to food and wine. If you want an idea of really good fast food - hint, not American - read a book like Tony Bourdain's The Nasty Bits when he writes of street food in Asia.
I admit you may have a point about the Brits and the Jerrys.
Wine is effete and they have to smother their food in sauce to choke it down.
Posted by: oj at June 24, 2006 12:17 PMWell, back in the day (Greeks, Romans) not so much as now. I am familiar with the theory of Northern/beer drinking/industrious peoples versus the Southern/wine drinking/lazy peoples.
Yes, sauce on French food is not at all like ketchup, mustard, mayo, BBQ sauce(!) as we have on ours. A moral defective like me would eat cardboard if you put a good reduced sauce on it. ;-)
Posted by: Rick T. at June 24, 2006 3:09 PMMcD guarantees edible food, reasonably priced coffee, and a clean washroom. In Munich, it costs a couple of Euros for 4 oz. of water. They give you a giantic teabag, but only 4 oz. of water, and refuse you any additional water. In McD, they give you at least 10 oz. of palatable liquid. They don't even charge you for using their washrooms. Washrooms in other eateries are guarded, and you have to pay 25 EU cents to get in. If you don't have the money on hand, tough luck. I love MickyD.
Posted by: ic at June 24, 2006 3:13 PMic - I hesitate to ask, do the French McD washrooms have American style fixtures (if you know what I mean)?
Posted by: erp at June 24, 2006 3:48 PMI had the best meal I ever had in my life in Paris. It was not had at McDonalds.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 24, 2006 4:42 PMWith Chinese takeout food, lot of times it seems that the whole purpose of the big chunks of vegetables and chicken is to have something for the sauce to stick to. (And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, either. Mmmmmmm.... MSG.)
I guess this got posted by accident: http://www.brothersjudd.com/blog/archives/2005/03/brilliant.html
Posted by: Mike Beversluis at June 24, 2006 4:55 PMBrining your chicken isn't French.
Posted by: oj at June 24, 2006 7:46 PMLucas Carton. The tasting menu.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 24, 2006 9:57 PMThe Paris McDonalds I have tried all served beer and wine along with their Big Macs. I thought their food was about as good (or bad) as that served in American McDonalds. Both were a little better than their British counterparts.
Why did I eat at McDonalds while in Paris? Partly curiosity. And partly for the same reasons (almost ) everyone else eats there; the food is cheap and fast, and the bathrooms are clean.
Posted by: Jim Miller at June 25, 2006 9:39 AM