cigalechanta

This interview explains why it is tres normale.
http://thepariskitchen.com/2012/11/w...aurant-spring/

kerouac

That is a very interesting article, but some of the details are quite sad about what customers expect -- a French restaurant but not too French.

And of course when it is mentioned that there are 2.2 million Parisians, no mention is made that at least 90% of these people are eating at home. The French customers that you find in this sort of restaurant are usually from out of town.

StCirq

<<Daniel (continues): People finding a remote gem in a hidden corner of Paris where they’ll have a meal and only interact with the French just doesn’t exist any longer.>>

Well, it does for me! I have restaurants I go back to often, and some that I stumble across, that have plenty of American and other international clients, but I'm perfectly comfortable just wandering around finding some out-of-the-way place that's filled with only French customers.

And yes, it is sad what restaurateurs must do to keep customers happy.

Michael

<i>In most “authentic” French restaurants that are not fancy Michelin temples, service even for French customers is ridiculously lacking.</i>

I can't say that this had been my general experience.

kerouac

In terms of what restaurants must do to keep customers happy, it is the reason that most of the ethnic restaurants (notably Chinese/Vietnamese) not in the ethnic neighborhoods do not at all serve authentic dishes. They serve the dishes that local customers have enjoyed the most and continue to adapt them to conform to what people want. Why serve "authentic" food if people don't like it?

What really gets me is how many tourists complain about the ethnic restaurants in France because the dishes are not at all the same as what they eat in their own country. They are certain that what they know is the "authentic" version and it never crosses their mind that wherever they live, the restaurants have changed their dishes to what the local people want to eat. Oddly enough, my Chinese friends from Asia have loved the Asian food in Paris -- but they did not necessarily say that it was "just like home."

cigalechanta

Same with my Indian friends for m



Same here with my Indian friends .
People don't understand that most of our Italian-American restaurants are not like you find in Italy.They came here as immigrants and in those days the foods and fresh herbs were not available so they adapted with what was available

Robert2533

You’ll find that a number of restaurants, Michelin starred included, in Paris, as well as other parts of France and most of Spain, will offer an English menu when they overhear the people at the table speaking English. It's simply a courtesy as too many Americans, as well as some of their British cousins, are notorious about speaking a second language. I don’t find it offensive and always ask for the French or Spanish menu because not matter how good the translation, the dishes do not sound as interesting or as delicious as they do in French or Spanish.

We noted on a recent trip to France that ended in Paris far more menus where posted in both French and English out of necessity because of the lack of language skills by those who can afford to dine out. As a point, I was somewhat amazed while checking the daily lunch specials at La Fontaine de Mars a couple of weeks ago, when we were approached by an American couple who asked if we could read the menu. They hadn’t a clue. They where also looking for someplace where they could have dinner at 5:00 pm. We sent them down the street to a brasserie.

Yes, a lot of the most popular restaurants have more English speaking clients than locals. In plain English, the economy sucks, making it difficult for restaurants to survive if they didn’t target foreign tourists.