American Chefs in Paris or other parts of France

[ludja]

I was just reading this thread describing pierre45's and John Talbot's dining experience at Spring in Paris. click The chef, Daniel Rose , is an American.

How common are American chefs in Paris or for that matter, in other parts of France?

In the fine dining area, are they represented at a level similar to that of chefs from other foreign countries?

Is being an American chef a plus, a hurdle to overcome or a completely neutral factor in terms of how the public or critics embrace the food or restaurant?

Also, do American chefs have any type of perceived style that would be distinquishable from those of French chefs?

Thanks, it would be interesting to hear people opinions and experiences.

[John Talbott]

I was just reading this thread describing pierre45's and John Talbot's dining experience at Spring in Paris.  click  The chef, Daniel Rose , is an American.

How common are American chefs in Paris or for that matter, in other parts of France?

In the fine dining area, are they represented at a level similar to that of chefs from other foreign countries?

Is being an American chef a plus, a hurdle to overcome or a completely neutral factor in terms of how the public or critics embrace the food or restaurant?

Also, do American chefs have any type of perceived style that would be distinquishable from those of French chefs?

Thanks, it would be interesting to hear people opinions and experiences.

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Great subject. To my knowledge, Daniel and Mark Singer at La Cave Gourmande are unique and I hope that Daniel, who I know reads eGullet, will answer since his insights would be valuable. There are other Anglo's, Chris Wright at Le Timbre and the guys at Fish and going back Steven Spurrier who gave the French wine folks headaches a few years back with his US-FR wine taste-off. And obviously, lots of Americans like Louisa Chu have gone thru stages in French kitchens.

The churlish may suggest that we've also "given" the French Harry’s American Bar, Joe Allen’s, the Hard Rock Café, Planet Hollywood, McDo’s + Starbucks, but I refuse to take that bait.

[SDyson]

Following up John Talbott's Anglo theme, which I've interpreted as English speaking, there's also William Page, who's an Australian, at Le Lièvre Gourmand in Vailly Sur Sauldre, north-east of Sancerre. He received a brief flurry of press here (in Australia) when he gained a Michelin star (in 2004?).

Are there others with English as their first language with Michelin stars?

John's digests suggest there has been one review Le Lièvre Gourmand in Les Echos in January 2006 and a review in an English paper in November 2004. Is that the level of commentary you would expect generally for a one star restaurant in the country? (My question isn't meant to imply any lack of interest in non French chefs by the press - I honestly don't know how much press a restaurant like that would expect to get - but it would be interesting to know if there is any feeling about whether being foreign is considered to increase or decrease the likelihood of being written about.)

[John Talbott]

Are there others with English as their first language with Michelin stars?

John's digests suggest there has been one review Le Lièvre Gourmand in Les Echos in January 2006 and a review in an English paper in November 2004. Is that the level of commentary you would expect generally for a one star restaurant in the country?

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At the risk of being Pariscentric, I think that's not unreasonable. From my experience "digesting" for three years, I think it's only Le Point's Pudlo + Galesne of Les Echos who write up places outside of Paris every week.

For purposes of trivia and the record, James Beard Awardee (2001) and American chef, Bob Wagoner (now at the Charleston Grill in SC), ran a superb restaurant just off the A6 towards Auxerre in the early '90's but apparently couldn't make a go of it despite French inlaws and a packed house whenever we went.

[John Talbott]

In looking over the Michelin Press release I note that two of the above, Fish + Spring got a New smiley face Bibendum.

[Fat Guy]

Isn't there a gentleman named Jonathan Frost who has some sort of culinary business in Paris?

Not that it seems likely ever to happen, but throughout the past decade there have been reports that Alice Waters might open a restaurant in Paris, for example, in 1998:

Alice Waters, whose restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., Chez Panisse, has become a shrine to American cooking, is to meet in California tomorrow with Helene David-Weill, the chairwoman and chief executive of the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre, to discuss plans for the museum's new 330-seat restaurant. The building in which the museum is housed is being restored, and the restaurant is scheduled to open at the end of the year 2000. The restaurant will look out on the Tuileries Gardens.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...755C0A96E958260

[John Talbott]

Isn't there a gentleman named Jonathan Frost who has some sort of culinary business in Paris?

Not that it seems likely ever to happen, but throughout the past decade there have been reports that Alice Waters might open a restaurant in Paris, for example, in 1998:

Alice Waters, whose restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., Chez Panisse, has become a shrine to American cooking, is to meet in California tomorrow with Helene David-Weill, the chairwoman and chief executive of the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre, to discuss plans for the museum's new 330-seat restaurant. The building in which the museum is housed is being restored, and the restaurant is scheduled to open at the end of the year 2000. The restaurant will look out on the Tuileries Gardens.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...755C0A96E958260

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Regarding Frost, I think he only recently moved to town and while involved in soirees isn't going beyond catering for the present.

My recollection is that the Waters' deal with the Louvre resto never got very far and that Le Saut du Loup resto has indeed opened next door in the Decorative Arts Museum but without her input as well.