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Pancakes in Paris

Living the American Dream in France

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About this listen

Paris was practically perfect - although for Craig Carlson one thing was still missing: the good ol' American breakfast he loved so much.

Craig was the last person anyone would have expected to open an American diner in Paris. He came from humble beginnings in a working-class town in Connecticut, had never worked in a restaurant, and didn't know anything about starting a brand-new business. But from his first visit to Paris, Craig knew he had found the city of his dreams.

Pancakes in Paris is the story of Craig tackling the impossible - from raising the money to fund his dream to tracking down international suppliers for "exotic" American ingredients, and even finding love along the way. His diner, Breakfast in America, is now a renowned tourist destination, and the story of how it came to be is just as delicious and satisfying as the classic breakfast that tops its menu.

©2016 Craig Carlson (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Biographies & Memoirs Culinary Adventures Europe Professionals & Academics Western Europe Dream

Critic reviews

"Donald Corren's engaging performance highlights Carlson's roller-coaster experience.... While most of the accents and pronunciations are spot-on and capture the nuances of the French people in the book, some deliberately imperfect pronunciations add an authentic flavor of an American trying to fit in. Ever entertaining are Corren's perfectly delivered comments on the sometimes passionate, sometimes laissez-faire Gallic responses to the various situations that make Carlson's journey both difficult and rewarding." ( AudioFile)
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Really enjoyed this book and it encourages you to reach out for your dream o

Great motivation

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I mostly enjoyed this story; good to follow this dream from its very beginning. I got a bit tired of the difficulties the author had with French labour law but was genuinely glad for the guy that it all worked out in the end.

Fresh green starter, meaty main...

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After a year spent in France as a student and loving it, the author returns some years later, this time to fill the one gap he'd found missing: a good American breakfast. This is the story of his achievements, how he raised the money to buy a suitable premises and started up the restaurant, Breakfast in America, in Paris.

Told in first person, Carlson, convincingly performed by Donald Corren, touches on his early years, his feelings of isolation and separation, and his determination, in his 30s, to bring a little part of the USA to Paris. At first interesting, as the book progresses it becomes less the tale of passion, more a documentation of laws, fines and problems. Having recently read the marvellous, A Waiter in Paris, by Edward Chisholm which is so emotive and visual and full of emotional impact, Pancakes in Paris is much less enfolding, more remote. Curious, too, seen from different sides of the restaurant divide - Carison, for example, saying that the waiting staff had no need of, and did not expect, tips whilst from his perspective as first a restaurant runner then a fully accepted Parisian waiter, Chisholm had revealed that the act of gaining tips dominated the waiter's every working minute.

An interesting book, though somewhat irritatingly littered with unnecessary interjections in French, as if the author has to prove his credentials, but is probably simply a failed attempt at humour. Well worth reading, however, if only to read about the, at times, apparently idiosyncratic laws and regulations imposed b by the state.

"Living the dream."

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I read this before a trip to Paris, and was amused to see that ‘B.I.A. One’ was next door to my hotel in Rue des Écoles. It’s an interesting story, well written and read, and a good insight into Parisian life. If you like reading about France in general, and Paris in particular, then you could do worse.

/>( The GIANT pancakes in B.I.A.One were delicious. I had banana.)

A pleasant read.

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A great story told with humour and passion. Not at all what I was expecting.

inspirational

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