Cameroonian Chef Is King at Cuistance

My husband Tom and I love dining out and we do so quite frequently to write our weekly Paris Insights restaurant review.

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a fine meal at a restaurant near Les Halles called Cuistance.

Cuistance
© Discover Paris!
The menu borrows from the Spanish theme of tapas. The restaurant serves small portions and encourages customers to order three of these as the equivalent of the traditional French entrée-plat* and share them with their dining companions. The selections were fresh and exciting with international touches - examples included Tataki de boeuf (Japan) and Ecrasé de burrata (Italy).

The restaurant is narrow and the decor is decidedly contemporary. Our servers were happy and proud to speak English with us. And we were pleased with our choices from the menu:

• Œuf de poule poché, petits pois et champignons de saison, crumble aux herbes, écume de bouillon, paille de vitelotte
  Poached egg in mushroom broth was served with a crumble of breadcrumbs and herbs de Provence with a side of matchstick purple potatoes - all atop a bed of green peas and mushrooms.
• Cromesquis de risotto aux girolles, copeaux de parmesan, riquette, sauce forestière.
  Risotto croquettes were redolent with parmesan cheese and studded with chanterelle mushrooms. A wild mushroom sauce was served alongside.
• Ecrasé de burrata, flocons d’avoine, pickles de mini maïs, riz soufflé, vinaigrette de noisette grillée, cress de basilic pourpre - This was our favorite!
  A flattened portion of burrata cheese (a pocket of mozzarella containing fresh cream) covered with toasted wild rice, ears of pickled baby corn, and purple basal, all dressed in toasted hazelnut vinaigrette.

Ecrasé de burrata
© Discover Paris!

• Déclinaison de cochon de lait, purée de Granny Smith rôtie, mini poireaux, jus de cochon.
  Three small portions of piglet, one shredded (somewhat like pulled pork in the U.S.) and two served in their skin, were accompanied by baby leeks and puréed, roasted, Granny Smith apple.
• Pavé de lieu jaune, légumes primeurs en persillade, palets de brioche, viennoise croquante, écume d’arrêtes au thé vert Matcha.
  Skinned pollack covered with bread crumbs and herbs de Provence were served with a frothy fish broth flavored with Matcha tea and carrot and turnip on the side.

Pavé de lieu
© Discover Paris!

• Royale de foie gras, crème de riquette, pomme Fuji, gelée d’une sangria, gaufre.
  A small glass dish contained a flan made from egg, cream, and foie gras (fatty duck liver), to be eaten with waffles! The plate was artfully decorated with a sauce made from arugula, tiny cubes of Fuji apple, and dots of sangria jelly.
• Soupe de mangue-coco, crousti de filo au miel, duo de shiso cress.
  Mango-coconut soup topped with a honey-coated filo-dough crust that resembled the crust of a crème brulée served as our dessert.

Soupe de mangue-coco
© Discover Paris!
The wine list is lovely as well, including the wines by the glass. I enjoyed a glass of Pouilly Fumé – Domaine des Fines Caillottes – 2012 (Loire Valley) with the cromesquis de risotto and a glass of Maucaillou – 2011 (Bordeaux) with the cochon de lait. Tom settled for a beer (Sol, from Mexico) with his meal.

As we were waiting for the dessert course, Chef Henri-Serge Manga emerged from the kitchen to inquire among the customers about their satisfaction with his handiwork. We asked a few questions about the ingredients in our dishes, to which he readily responded, and then he graciously posed for the photo below.

Chef Henri-Serge Manga, Cuistance Restaurant
© Discover Paris!
Chef Manga is of Cameroonian origin. He studied at Thames Valley University near London and has cooked in Japan and the renowned Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, Great Britain. He worked at a wonderful little restaurant called Bon in Paris' 16th arrondissement prior to taking over the kitchen at Cuistance. Seeing him come out of the kitchen and learning that he was the chef was a bonus for us because we knew nothing about him when we made our reservation.

The bill for two, including one glass of champagne, one beer, two glasses of wine, and seven dishes came to 124€. It was a fair price to pay for such an inventive meal. Our only regret was that there was a limited selection of desserts (only four) from which to choose.

We'll definitely return to Cuistance to enjoy the Ecrasé de burrata and to sample other items on the menu!

Cuistance
14 Rue Sauval
75001 Paris
Telephone: 01 40 41 08 08
Métro station: Châtelet Les Halles (Lines 1, 4, 7, and 14; RER A, B, and D)

*If you don’t know what entrée-plat means, then you may be interested in reading our new e-book Dining Out in Paris. For more information, click here: http://parisinsights.com/ournewbook.php.

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Rougui Dia Rules the Kitchen at Le Vraymonde

I first brought you news of Rougui Dia when I launched the Entrée to Black Paris blog in September 2010. At that time, Chef Dia was head chef at Petrossian, an exclusive restaurant in the tony 7th arrondissement. She had recently published her story in a book called Le Chef est une Femme and was already thinking about moving on to a place where she would have complete creative control over the dishes emerging from the kitchen.

Chef Rougui Dia
Fast forward to February 2013. The press announced that Chef Dia was indeed moving onward and upward. She had accepted the position of head chef at the restaurant of the soon-to-be-opened Buddha Bar Hotel in an even more posh neighborhood - that of the fashion district of the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement. Neighboring institutions and establishments include the U.S. Embassy, the British Embassy, and numerous fashion boutiques such as Hermès, Lancôme, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent.

The restaurant is called Le Vraymonde. In operation since June 2013, its name is a play on the French words le vrai monde ("the real world"). It is a trendy place with a seating capacity of 85, and it showcases a series of lounges in which customers can drink and dine. The walls are adorned with shades of imperial gold yellow, crimson red, and dark orange under a black lacquered ceiling lit by clusters of hand-made glass Chinese lanterns. Oversized round mirrors create subtle illusions of perspective. Each salon opens onto a beautiful and peaceful courtyard that is open for lunch and dinner from April to October.

Le Vraymonde dining room
Chef Dia's accomplishments stem from her attention to detail, her emphasis on fresh, high quality local and international products, and her constant reinvention of traditional dishes through her quest for new flavors. She describes her menu as follows:

Each dish is conceived as a new destination; a desire to share and discover. My first priority is to showcase each ingredient without denaturing or distorting it, while offering a voyage filled with flavors and aromas to the diner.

The menu evolves constantly. Chef Dia proposes eight first courses, eight main dishes, and eight desserts each day.

Tom and I dined at Le Vraymonde last Friday evening and we found that the descriptions of the sumptuous decor did not prepare us adequately for the atmosphere that we were invited to enter. Huge round mirrors on either side of the room projected the tables and walls into infinity - we felt as though we were dining in a never ending cavern of luxury.

For the starter, Tom ordered a Salade de papaye verte et mangue façon Thaï, which was a generous portion of julienned carrot and green papaya in a slightly sour sauce. I ordered Soupe carotte au lait de coco - a creamy carrot and coconut-milk soup drizzled with lime oil.

Gambas de Madagascar, cromesquis de champignons, riz vénéré
Tom chose Gambas de Madagascar, cromesquis de champignons, riz vénéré as his main course and received five jumbo shrimp and a mushroom croquette resting on a bed of black rice cooked al dente. I selected Poulet au caramel et carottes sautées à la menthe, a plate of caramelized chicken in a slightly sweet sauce served with baby carrots and turnips cooked soft, a small hot pepper, and portions of fresh lime. We both selected white wine to accompany our dishes and were thoroughly satisfied with our choices.

Desserts at Le Vraymonde are the realm of pastry chef Guy Darcel. From the eight choices on the menu, Tom ordered Baba au chocolate et whisky japonais, lait de coco aux perles du Japon. Flavored with dark chocolate and doused with Japanese whisky, it was a unique take on the traditional baba (yeast cake). I did not order dessert, but because our server could not bear to see me with an empty plate, he brought me two complimentary canelés – a classic mini-cake from Bordeaux (not on the menu).

We were greeted warmly by everyone that we encountered, including the doorman at the entrance to the hotel, and the service was outstanding from the moment that we entered the restaurant to the time that we claimed our coats to leave. The prices on the menu reflect the restaurant's location in the upscale neighborhood near La Madeleine church, but we felt that the food and the experience were worth it. We will definitely return!

Read a complete review of our dining experience on Monday, January 20 in the Paris Insights restaurant review.

All images courtesy of Laurent Guyot Communications.

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Chef Wheeler Del Torro on Cooking in Paris

I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Chef Wheeler Del Torro virtually, after he contacted Discover Paris! about taking an Entrée to Black Paris walking tour over the Christmas holidays. He currently lives in Boston, where he operates the underground restaurant called Pharmacie at 3ScoopsCafé.

When I learned that Chef Del Torro hails from Jamaica and that he had cooked professionally in the City of Light, I immediately asked him for an interview. Here's what he has to say about Paris and its place in his culinary career and vegan lifestyle.

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ETBP: When did you come to Paris?
WDT: My adventure in Paris began when I came to the city in the late 90s. The city was a lot different then. I graduated from high school and moved here with my girlfriend at the time, Max, who was born and raised here. I was so in love. You know how amazing French women can be. Paris is amazing - this city taught me how to cook, how to host a proper dinner party, how to slow dance… and I think the most important thing was just how to enjoy life.

ETBP: How long did you live here?
WDT:I had planned to stay for a few months in the summer, but returned to the States 3 years later. I would go home for holidays and birthdays, but that was it. I didn’t want to miss any of the action in Paris. Time just seemed to fly. I spent the time exploring antique shops, markets, bookstores, cafes, and of course, learning how to cook.

ETBP: Where did you work here?
WDT: I hosted dinner parties around the city. Also in Nice and Sarlat.

ETBP: Talk about your Fillet of Soul dinners. Where were they held?
WDT: Our Fillet of Soul dinners began as book club in the 6th, where I was living at the time. I was trying to expand my social circle, because I had just moved here and didn’t know one person outside of my girlfriend’s family. My idea was a conversation about the book and a meal. I invited people who I wanted to be friends and acquaintances with. The Internet, word-of-mouth and my passion about books and culture helped grow the book club into a bi-weekly dining event. As they grew, we expanded into larger flats (homes) around the city, and included music and sometimes performance art.

ETBP: Who would attend?
WDT: Our regular group was a mix of young professionals, budding artists, poets, rappers, and students. We would also reach out to innovative young chefs and entrepreneurs.

Del Torro Dinner Party
Photo courtesy of www.wheelerdeltorro.com

ETBP:Your Web site talks about you selling desserts to nightclubs and to high profile events and parties as your reputation grew on the Paris culinary scene. What types of desserts did you sell?
WDT: I provided my Black Label desserts, which have alcohol infusions. I created a variety of flavors ranging from a Dom Perignon champagne sorbet to a Kahlua cookies and cream.

ETBP: How long have you been a vegan?
WDT: I have been vegan for over a decade.

ETBP: Describe how you came to embrace the vegan diet / lifestyle.
WDT: I worked for a banker as a private chef. His doctor gave him the option to radically change his diet or face another heart attack. To help encourage him to change his diet, I made a substantial monetary bet with him to see who could be vegan the longest. I have been vegan ever since.

ETBP: What are some of your favorite vegan eating establishments in Paris?
WDT: The Gentle Gourmet is my current favorite. They have delicious options for every meal of the day and have been at the forefront of introducing the concept of “vegan” to Paris. For a casual meal, I like SOL Semilla in the 10th.

ETBP: What would you advise vegan tourists who visit Paris regarding eating?
WDT: Enjoy Vegan Paris! There are many great vegetarian and vegan restaurants springing up around the city. Check online with the blogs Vegan Paris, My Vegan Paris Adventure, and the Paris Vegan Meet Up Group.  For supplies ranging from groceries to toothpaste, visit the team at Un Monde Vegan. 

ETBP: Do you cook non-vegan foods for your clients?
WDT: No, I like the opportunity to challenge and surprise my clients with the many possibilities of vegan food.

ETBP: Compare the London culinary scene with that of Paris.
WDT: As a person who travels about two weeks out of each month cooking and entertaining, you can tell a lot about a city and where people are culturally, from the types of people who show up at pop-up dining events. Because I create underground temporary restaurants, which gives me the flexibility to collaborate with local chefs, I would have to say both cities are on the move and producing some amazing young chefs that are going to transform the culinary landscape for the foreseeable future.
For the record, Paris does stand out. It is the epicenter of beautiful women (and men) willing to experiment with food.

ETBP: When you came to Paris, did you establish contact with the Jamaican community?
WDT: I ventured over to Little Africa and made friends, but I didn’t connect specifically with the Jamaican community. However, many people from the Islands reached out to me because of my jerk sauce. They used to tell me it reminded them of home. I remember at one of my events an older woman started weeping while eating a jerk dish I made. I didn’t know what to make of it; I thought maybe it was too spicy for her. I asked her if she was okay. She told me she hadn’t tasted anything like that since her grandmother had cooked for her as a child.

ETBP: Are there any other national cuisines that have influenced your culinary style?
WDT: Other types of cuisine constantly inspire me. Many of my recipes are fusions of different cuisines like soul food with Asian elements or West African street food with traditional French fare. I often do tapas, which can be very experimental depending on who I’m cooking for.

ETBP: What is attractive about the city of Boston as a home base for you and your business?
WDT: Boston has over 50 colleges and universities that attract the most brilliant and creative students, professors, entrepreneurs, and people from around the world. You could be riding in subway and hear people talking about quantum physics and the person next to you chatting on the cell phone about their second round of financing for their biotech startup. My offices are sandwiched between Harvard on one side and MIT on the other, which keeps me stimulated and creative. Boston also has a large French community, with an active cultural center hosting events and classes almost every day.

The Gentle Gourmet
24 Boulevard de la Bastille
75012 Paris
Telephone: 01 43 43 48 49
http://gentlegourmetcafe.com/
Metro: Bastille (Lines 1 and 8), Quai de la Rapée (Line 5)

Sol Semilla
23 rue des Vinaigriers
75010 Paris
Telephone: 01 42 01 03 44
http://www.sol-semilla.fr/
Metro: Jacques Bonsergent (Line 5)
 

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Chef Dwight Evans in Paris - Part 2

A few weeks ago, Chef Dwight Evans was in Paris to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his graduation from the esteemed professional cooking school Grégoire Ferrandi. We met at a bistrot in Paris’ 5th arrondissement and he filled me in on all that has come to pass since he left Paris in 2002.

Chef Dwight Evans
© Discover Paris!   Almost immediately after returning to Muncie, Indiana, Evans went to work for Crystal Cruises. He sailed around the world during the year that he worked with the company, calling in ports in Italy (which he had planned to visit when he was preparing to leave Paris), Hawaii, Japan, China, Singapore, Greece, and Turkey.

After his second contract with the cruise line expired, Evans went to Chicago and opened a restaurant called Café Soul on the South Side at 66th Street and Martin Luther King Drive. It was a unique establishment in that Evans served both traditional soul food and bistrot food such as frog legs and osso buco. The restaurant was very well received, and Evans served celebrity clients such as Herman Rush and Willie Mays there in addition to neighborhood residents.

From Café Soul, Evans accepted the position of executive chef for Covenant Village of Northbrook, a retirement community in Northbrook, Illinois. Food service at Covenant Village is operated by the French conglomerate Sodexo, which affords Evans fringe benefits (long vacations, 401K plan) that most U.S. chefs only dream about. From this position, he is rapidly making himself known in the Chicago culinary community.

Evans is the first African-American 1st vice president of Chicago Chefs of Cuisine, the oldest chapter of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). He is expected to become president of the Chicago chapter in the near future. He is also a member of the World Association of Chefs Society and the Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of Chicago; the latter organization requires a referral to be considered for admission. Evans is particularly proud to be a member of the Escoffier Society because he considers Escoffier to be the author of “the culinary bible” of our time.

Being a great chef is not all that Evans aspires to. He also wants to be a great businessman in the culinary field, modeling the likes of master French chef Alain Ducasse. He envisions being the proprietor of a restaurant group and creating a line of products to be sold under his name. He wants to leave an epicurean legacy – a thriving business that will provide employment for communities around the Midwest and beyond as well as a solid economic base for his family. To this end, he is actively working on creating the Chef Dwight Evans brand.

Amongst his activities in this arena are signing with a publisher for his book entitled From the Ghetto to Gourmet…I Refuse to Lose, the completion of a pilot for a cooking show entitled “Fine Dining with Chef Evans,” and fulfilling the role of celebrity chef and spokesperson for Moo and Oink – a meat, chicken, and barbecue sauce company in the Chicago area. He was named one of America’s top African-American chefs by Ebony Magazine in 2009 and was the Illinois contender for Best Chef of the American Culinary Federation’s Central Regional Conference in 2011.

Giving back to the community is near and dear to Evans’ heart. He participated in the “Real Men Cook” event in Chicago in 2011 with his son Davonte and is active in other non-profit organizations such as Chefs in the Classroom, No Kid Left Hungry, and Taste of Chicago. His master project is the creation of his own non-profit organization called “G to G,” which he plans to launch in conjunction with the publication of his book From the Ghetto to Gourmet.

I asked Evans if he plans to stay in Chicago once these dreams are realized. His response: “Just because I was born in America doesn’t mean that I’m going to die on American soil!”

Evans' recent visit to Paris has turbo-charged his desire to explore the culinary cultures of other lands – Italy and Japan are two places that he mentioned more than once during our conversation. He wants to do something bigger than work in the U.S. and something bigger than what he accomplished in school in France and with Crystal Cruise Line. He is open to the entire world and believes wholeheartedly that he can achieve greatness anywhere on the planet!

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Chef Dwight Evans in Paris - Part 1

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his graduation from the esteemed professional cooking school Grégoire Ferrandi, Chef Dwight Evans returned to Paris to see classmates and visit “old stomping grounds.” I had the good fortune of being able to set up a rendezvous with him before he filled his schedule and he granted me an interview. During our chat, I reminded him that I interviewed him ten years ago when he was preparing to leave Paris and return to the U.S. to "seek his culinary fortune."

This week's blog presents my write up from that first interview in 2002. I'll post the discussion of our 2012 interview next week.

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The throngs of people filling their baskets at the street market outside the café on rue Mouffetard were just one of the many signs that Paris was returning to normal after summer vacation. Inside, I chatted with Dwight Evans, who, ironically, was preparing to leave Paris to return to Indiana.

Chef Dwight Evans in 2002
© Discover Paris!
Though he was born in Cleveland, Ohio, Evans considers himself a native of Muncie, Indiana. He is what you might call a “self-made man”, having chosen cooking as a profession at a very early age. Starting as a dishwasher at the age of 13, he worked his way up to the position of cook, then sous-chef in restaurants in Muncie and in Indianapolis. His grandmother was his greatest inspiration, and his respect and love for her cooking is stronger now than ever. Evans recalls that at the tender age of 12, his grandmother told him that his greens were “the best she ever tasted”. That single phrase gave him the determination and the belief in himself to succeed as a chef.

Evans comes from a family where all the men cook, and cook well. But he is the first of his clan to venture into the kitchen professionally. After gaining invaluable experience in many local restaurants, he found that he had reached the proverbial “glass ceiling” in the field – he was overqualified to be a sous-chef, but underqualified to be a chef. He was advised to go back to school to obtain a degree. And after talking things over with his family, Evans did just that.

Having left high school to take care of his family, he began by obtaining his G.E.D., then went on to study at Ball State University. He subsequently enrolled at Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, where he enhanced the knowledge and skills that he already possessed with instruction from some of America’s finest culinary professionals. He sites John Kacala, Certified Executive Chef and professor of the Garde Manger course (the art and preparation of cold food) at the university, as one of the people who influenced him most during his two-year tenure at Johnson and Wales.

When I asked Kacala to comment on Evans’ performance in school, he said “Dwight is a team player with a good head on his shoulders…There is no doubt in my mind that he is an up and coming force in the culinary and hospitality field.”

Yet another esteemed culinary professional, Michel Bouit of the central region of the American Culinary Federation, was instrumental in encouraging Evans to strive for greater heights. He suggested that Evans undertake instruction in Paris, which is considered by many to be the culinary capital of the world. Again, Evans was ready to challenge himself, and soon found himself enrolled at the Ecole Superièure de Cuisine Française in the heart of the city. After completing the program, he had the great fortune to work as an intern at the Michelin-star restaurant, the Jules Verne.

The take-home lesson from Evans’ experience at the Jules Verne was discipline. As you might expect in a Michelin-star restaurant, everything ran like clockwork in the kitchen. The brigade ran like a well-oiled machine. While Evans found that the kitchen staff viewed some of the dining preferences of the clients less than “appropriate” (for example, ordering beef cooked well done as opposed to rare), he said that their professionalism was beyond reproach. He hopes to run his own kitchen with such a well-trained staff someday.

When I asked Evans how he feels about cooking, he responded by saying that being a chef is “like being a magician”. Though everyone has different tastes and preferences, a chef has to know how to please everyone despite these differences. Finding the formula, or recipe, for each individual dish on a menu that is pleasing to the majority of people is like magic for him. He also said that when everything comes together in the kitchen as it should, he gets an adrenaline rush from the realization that he has succeeded yet again at satisfying his “audience”, the customers in the dining room.

Who are Evans’ culinary heroes? Escoffier, who devised the brigade system of the restaurant kitchen and wrote what Evans considers to be the culinary bible of our time. Emeril, who is also a Johnson and Wales alumnus and who also went to Paris to further develop his culinary skills. Bocuse, who Evans looks upon as a modern-day Escoffier. And Ducasse, who is not only a consummate chef, but an excellent business man. Evans hopes to emulate Ducasse by succeeding at both the art and the business of cooking.

While French cuisine has definite appeal, Evans does not plan to specialize in it. Or, for that matter, in any other kind of cuisine. He does not want to “pigeon-hole” himself, but rather wants to experiment with all kinds of cuisine. Though he has returned to the U.S., thoughts of another culinary excursion to a foreign country are already coursing through his head. Evans has his sights set on Italy, and if the contacts that he made during his Paris sojourn develop, then he may soon find himself applying for another visa.

I asked Evans how he managed to deal with the language barrier while taking such an intensive course at the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française. He laughed and said that his course was for foreigners, and was thus held in English. But he did have to learn French nonetheless, and he was just starting to get the hang of it when he had to leave. To combat homesickness, he said that he found a home-away-from-home at the pan-African soul food restaurant, Bojangles*. The owner, Chicagoan Sharon Morgan, was happy to meet another African-American from the Midwest who shares her passion for cooking. She even asked Evans to be guest chef at the restaurant, something that he was happy to do.

Bojangles restaurant
© Discover Paris!
Interestingly, it was Evans’ professor at the Ecole Supérieure who gave Evans the name of a contact who introduced him to Morgan. Thus haute cuisine and soul food were both part of Evans’ culinary experience in Paris.

*Bojangles closed its doors in March 2003.

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The New Black Pearl of Paris

If you have not already visited Entrée to Black Paris™, WELCOME! Today marks the official launching of our blog!

Chef Rougui Dia granted Entrée to Black Paris™ an exclusive interview a few weeks ago. Read on to learn about her fascinating and inspiring story.

Cover of Rougui Dia Biography

When talking about "The Black Pearl" in relation to Paris, one thinks immediately of Josephine Baker - the African-American woman who took the city by storm in a theatrical revue and rose to stardom overnight in October 1926. In 2005, Paris discovered that it had a new "Black Pearl" who was rising to stardom as quickly as Baker did. But this time, the theater was a professional kitchen, and the woman was Franco-Senegalese instead of African-American. Her promotion to head chef at a premier restaurant in the posh 7th arrondissement caused nothing less than a media frenzy.

Rougui Dia is this 21st-century "Black Pearl." Born in Paris' 12th arrondissement, she is fourth in a family of seven siblings - two brothers and five sisters. Her parents hail from the village of N'Danno in northern Senegal, where they married and had their first two children. With the exception of two years in Senegal prior to beginning elementary school, and two months of summer vacation at age ten, she grew up in Paris and the nearby suburb of Neuilly-Plaisance. Her quiet demeanor belies the tenacity that sustained her efforts to attain her culinary credentials beginning at age 15, and propelled her to the number one spot in the kitchen at Le 144, the restaurant operated by the venerated caviar house Petrossian.

Petrossian Boutique and Restaurant

© Discover Paris!

A few weeks ago, Dia granted Discover Paris! an interview. At that time, I had not read her biography - Le Chef est une Femme (The Chef is a Woman; written in French when Dia was only thirty years old) - and did not know the details of her family life or the long, rocky road that she traveled to achieve her success. Many of my questions concerned the concept behind the dishes served at Petrossian, which are not Russian or Armenian as the uninitiated might guess from the name of the restaurant, but rather, a co-habitation of the finest French cuisine with various elements of Senegalese cuisine. Foie gras with hibiscus (the main ingredient of Senegal's national drink) and Le Poisson du Jour (fish of the day) with plantains are examples of such dishes. The idea is to titillate, but not shock, the palates of the restaurant's clientele with new taste sensations from Senegal.

Rougui Dia and Armen Petrossian

© Discover Paris!

Armen Petrossian, who travels the world in search of new items for the boutique downstairs at the corner of rue de l'Université and rue de Latour-Maubourg, works with Dia to establish the menu. He is the person who encouraged Dia to incorporate Senegalese ingredients into her dishes.  When I asked Dia if she collaborates with other chefs regarding ideas for dishes and menus, she responded that her main inspiration – apart from her interactions with Monsieur Petrossian – comes from her mother and her sisters.

I also asked Dia several questions about how being black and being a woman affected her ability to progress in the culinary field, which is almost exclusively the realm of the white French male. She responded that she decided early on that she would concentrate on the positive and keep herself focused on her goal – otherwise, she would end up with nothing while her detractors would have everything.  She did not focus so much on the race and gender aspects of the difficulties that she faced, but rather concentrated on overcoming these "supplemental" difficulties.  She further stated that barriers that she encountered only fueled her determination to succeed.  It was only in reading her biography that I learned of the numerous slights, rejections, and insults that she endured to obtain her certificates and to arrive where she is today.  I also learned that three of her siblings had to leave France to work in their chosen professions, so closed were the doors to the thresholds that they needed to cross to get even entry level positions in their fields.

Dia is a study in grace and poise. She is proud of her Senegalese origins, but also fully embraces France. She decided as a very young woman that she would embrace the people who encouraged and supported her rather than focus on the negativity and ignorance of her detractors, and she said that this attitude is what allowed her to succeed. She speaks very softly and has a gentle smile, but simultaneously exudes an air of determination and strength born of fierce struggle. She hopes that all the publicity generated by her success will inspire young women and French people of non-European origin that they too can find a path to success.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.