Françoise Schall-Wakai is a French-born American who studied Chinese, Japanese and Political Economy at the University of Bonn, Germany. After a twenty year career in international sales and business development, she made a major career change, opening a wine bistro in Paris, A trained wine sommelier and 500 hours certified Yoga instructor, Françoise has lived in France, Germany, the U.S., Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil, Angola and will soon head to Shanghai.
Heurs et malheurs d'un restaurateur à Paris (or loosely translated as “The Joy and Misfortune of a restaurateur in Paris”) is the title of her book, which is written in French. It is available on Amazon and the Fnac.
Interview by Cynthia Mitchell, author of Hand Me the River.
a Paris Writers News interview
CM: Hello Françoise, I’d like to begin by asking you about your background, then turn to the content of your book, and finally to ask about your experience as a writer.
Where were you when you first had the idea of having your own restaurant? How did the idea evolve into a project?
FSW: The first time I thought of having a café or a bar was when I was living in Japan and traveling intensely in South East Asia for work. I was sometimes daydreaming, when I was waiting for a flight, of a “café philo” or something similar. And then years later, when I had interesting interviews for a new job I suddenly realized I didn’t want to be a world traveling business woman anymore. I seriously asked myself what I wanted to do and this is when I decided to go for it.
CM: Other restaurant owners spoke to you about the stresses and uncertainties and cautioned you against opening a restaurant. Why did you decide to go ahead?
FSW: I have always enjoyed new challenges and this seemed to be a big challenge with new opportunities and a complete change in lifestyle. I also thought to myself you don’t have these types of opportunities very often in life and felt it was the right moment for me. I think most professionals who make a major career change have had similar feelings.
CM: Your restaurant has a beautiful and unusual name, Le Framboisy. How did you choose this name? And what did you later learn about the name from one of your customers?
FSW: The name was “our little secret”, the nickname my husband gave me. Nobody knew about it and the speculations amused me. I would always say: “it’s just an invented name” or “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with raspberry” (Framboise in French), etc. Then one day a person came in and literally grilled me on the relationship it had with a French female superhero of a seventies children’s book. Even though I had devoured these books as a child, I had totally forgotten about them. The customer was very serious about her assumption and very saddened that my answer didn’t satisfy her. When she left I was quite intrigued by the entire episode.
CM: In your book, you note that despite all the research and planning you did, there were aspects of running a bistro that took you by surprise. Can you share one or two examples?
FSW: One aspect was the physical part of the job. Honestly, I should have done some bodybuilding training before starting my project! Moving Parisian bistro marble tables with their cast iron legs, carrying wine cases, even worse champagne cases, etc. was really exhausting. Another aspect that surprised me was the stress related to cash flow issues and their impact on the quality of my sleep. As the old adage goes, “Cash is king”. Knowing about it was one thing, living and breathing the experience was quite another.
CM: Your book is your personal story, but it is much more than that. You generously offer instructions for anyone considering — or dreaming of — opening a bistro or bar. It can almost be read as a how-to manual. Was that your intention?
FSW: I personally felt a need for a book like this when I launched my project, most of all in the initial phase. So, in my recollection of my bistro years, I had a desire to expose in detail what I went through. My hope was and is to give a sort of roadmap to those daring entrepreneurs dreaming of opening a bistro.
CM: You portray in vivid detail what it’s like to be on the other side of le comptoir (the counter), to be in the position of the owner and not that of the customer. You offer insights into the benefits of alliances, the dangers of drinking too much, the combination of cultures, and the perils of choosing a chef. And you offer glimpses of the people who frequented Le Framboisy — the one-time guests and the regulars. I especially liked the story of the man who bought Champagne at 3 in the afternoon. Can you speak about that encounter?
FSW: In my bistro I regularly had the feeling I was in a “Boulevard theater”, but the day Pierre-André entered Le Framboisy my impression was he was a character straight out of a novel. His look, demeanor, his voice, the words he deliberately chose, ordering a bottle of champagne at 3 pm and offering a glass to the barmaid and myself, then paying in cash: he was clearly from another world compared to my usual customers. He became a regular with an unpredictable schedule and we became friendly. Probably to our mutual surprise!
CM: Your curiosity about and appreciation of humanity — in many varieties — shines throughout your book. It’s evident in your respectful attitude toward all the people you encountered as you advanced in your project — workers, bankers, other restauranteurs, vendors, vintners, and clients. How have people reacted to seeing themselves described?
FSW: Many said they were touched and very nostalgic. Some told me it made them cry. One even said to me she recognized herself despite the fact that I had changed her name, location and gender to make her unrecognizable and protect the innocent. Catherine and Diane, the widow and the daughter of Jacques Baratier, were thankful I wrote down the memory of Jacques' moments at Le Framboisy. And of course, the illegitimate couple was more than thrilled to find themselves - unrecognizable to others - in a book.
CM: Now, I’ll turn to your experience as a writer. When did it first occur to you to write this book? Had you been recording your experiences all along? Do you have a writing strategy? Or rituals that help you when writing?
FSW: After I sold the bistro and moved to Mexico City I first didn't want to talk about my bistro for years and even asked my husband to avoid mentioning it in public because I was emotionally exhausted. But then, as time passed, the memories came back, even though I hadn't taken any notes in real time. I was so busy and at times overwhelmed during those bistro years that I was not always conscious of my experiences and it took me a while.
In order to write, I needed to take a break from my routine, isolate myself to focus on the details and develop the story further, be in a different place, like in Chuburnà, in the Yucatan, or on the beach in Brazil, or alone home during some weekends while we lived in New Orleans.
CM: Your book is comprised of short chapters and, while I read the book from start to finish, it seems that one could open it on any page and find a morsel to enjoy. How did you decide on the format?
FSW: Deciding on the format, the titles and order of the chapters was the first thing I did and I nearly didn’t alter them. The more technical part of the book was supposed to be read without following a chronological order. I wanted the book to be both an entertaining narration while also serving as a reference guide.
CM: What obstacles did you encounter as you worked on the book?
FSW: Tapping into my inner awareness to allow my memory to come back and finding my flow…. Technical obstacles were sometimes a deterrent. I once lost all my editing and didn't touch my draft for months.
CM: What project — or projects — are you tackling now?
FSW: I want to work on how to use my book as an educational tool for cooking schools, students studying French language and entrepreneurs in the wine and food industry and to bring the Parisian culture experience to others around the world.
I am also working on some short stories but some are in English, and French, while others are in German or Portuguese. The idea of compiling them is tempting but I am conscious that I need to first agree with myself in which language I want them to be published.
