Paris, in the midst of a cultural shift, has a fresh energy.
The new wave infusing the city with fresh energy
“Have you been here before?” asks the tattooed and bearded bartender at Little Red Door, a speakeasy-style bar in Paris. He hands over what looks like a child’s board book, but titled “Eleven unique artistic interpretations of eleven distinctive drinks.”
Choose a picture, he says with a grin. Whatever inspires me will be the drink he’ll make. If the picture doesn’t intrigue, slide out the card to see the ingredients.
I flip past a few racy illustrations and go with an abstract drawing that looks like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” then surreptitiously slide out the cheat sheet: verbena, green coffee, celery, lime, mezcal (that explains the caterpillar). The drink is expertly made and inventive. The experience is fun and a little loopy.
This is not the Paris that I and many generations of Americans expect as we sleepwalk through the tried and true — the Louvre, Notre Dame, ChampsElysees and on and on. It’s the new City of Light to explore.
Even as France prepares for a momentous vote in a presidential election that will probably shape the future of the country and the European Union, Paris is in the midst of a cultural shift.
Since the financial crisis in 2008, many young workers have left safer careers in finance and law to follow different passions. It’s a phenomenon we in San Francisco know well.
The entrepreneurial movement started in Sentier, a portion of the city’s smallest district, the 2nd arrondissement, historically home to the wholesale garment trade. By the late 1990s, dot-coms and, later, startups were moving in. They were followed by neo-bistros, craft cocktail bars and trendy boutiques that cater to young workers. Nicknamed Silicon Sentier, it’s the heart of French tech culture.
And while the gentrification that accompanied the tech boom is a sensitive topic in San Francisco, so far our French sister city is embracing the changes. On the Right Bank, new coworking spaces are opening every week. On the Left Bank, Station F, which bills itself as the world’s largest tech incubator, opens this summer with Facebook and TechShop on board.
“Parisians decided they didn’t want to be a museum city — a city for tourists,” says Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, France’s consul general in San Francisco. “The startup trend prevents this. It’s bringing back industry, young workers, to keep Paris alive.”
Lindsey Tramuta, an American expat, explores the evolution of her adopted home in “The New Paris,” published this month. She sees the entrepreneurial spirit and return to craftsmanship as a sign of progress.
“Startups, young chefs, foreign chefs, the specialty coffee scene, the return of craft beer, the prowess in cocktails, the creative fashion labels and crafters who have opened up shop in Paris in the last six to seven years have drastically changed the mentality,” she said.
The change is most obvious in the dining scene. As Paris’ culinary establishment loosens its grip on the apron strings, the French seem to be gobbling up restaurant concepts as fast as people can dream them up.
Kristin Frederick, a Californian, helped pave the way in 2011 with her hamburger truck Le Camion Qui Fume (“the Smoking Truck”). This weirdly foreign idea (No flatware? No place to sit?) became a runaway hit. She followed up with others, including an American-style Chinese restaurant, a gourmet popcorn bar in a movie theater and now Greenhouse, a vegetablefocused restaurant with a raised garden out front that capitalizes on the healthy eating trend sweeping the city.
Still, uncovering this new layer of the city is not easy. Many establishments are found in places where you mostly hear French and rarely see a selfie stick. So I tapped Tramuta, who, after 10 years in the city, knows the new Paris better than most Parisians.
Tramuta, 31, lives in the 11th arrondissement, once home to metal fabricators, cobblers and furniture makers and anchored by history: On one end is the Place de la Bastille, on the other, the Place de La Republique, where Parisians gathered after the November 2015 terrorist attacks.
The Bataclan, where 90 people died and 200 were wounded, is hosting concerts again. The area is vibrant,
populated Residences by share singles streets and with families. indepe dent fashion boutiques, restaurants, craft cocktail bars and third-wave cof feehouses.
Tramuta and I meet at Cafe Oberkampf, a tiny restaurant in the hyper trendy neighborhood that goes by th same name. The owner, Guy Griffin, French Brit, is one of the entrepreneurs she mentions in her book. Grif
“Parisians decided they didn’t want to be a museum city — a city for tourists.” Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, France’s consul general in San Francisco