(Illustration courtesy of Hippie Killer)
Apparently the owners of “Café de Paris” (shudder) failed to learn the lessons taught by other ethnic restaurants like Sitar and Rio: murals are supposed to feature large-breasted women serving strapping men. Period.
If the eatery (a favorite word of ours) were owned by the state though, there’d be problems. As noted by the DM: “Café de Paris' menu is written in French, Spanish and English because, ‘that's how you would find it in Paris,’ Gerard said.”
News flash, courtesy of the West Virginia Legislature: this ain’t Paris. Now pass the Freedom Fries.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Worst. Mural. Ever.
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Alors! Ve are ze Kanawha Kadets!
Tres fashionable in ze latest crav-ets!
And dine on ze Capitols finest Croquettes!
But ze tres haute cafe', she ees not open yet!
Ze French food ees good food, ve have you to know.
Ze aesthetes from ze Symphony can't wait to show,
They have palettes de Paris, and money to throw,
At truffles, ze cochons, ze fine escargot.
Surely ze Governor will make ze scene!
And Marquis Blankenship will come under full steam!
With Hiz Honneur Ze Mayor they'll make everyone scream,
When zey takes off ze shoes, and zey order brown beans.
From someone who just moved here: this whole thing reeks of that fakey pseudo-'cultured' bullshit that seems to plague any town with an identity crisis. You gotta hate it when a place that could be cool measures its worth against what they think a cool city is. First of all, I can't believe so much energy has been wasted over the color of the building. These are the same jerks in some neighborhood association that would tell me what my garage door or mailbox has to look like.
Judging from the Gazette's photo, the interior of the restaurant isn't exactly original or nonconformist.
It's just some place for the local snooty-pants to go, to pretend that they're foodies, to be seen by their bridge club, to eat meat well-done and pay out the nose to do it...
I just wish somebody would open a good, honest eatery. I know there are a few, but I've only lived here a few months, and it seems like I've already heard about all five or so. There's something wrong with that. Do people here do anything besides pat themselves on the back for being 'cultured?'
I'm just trying to assimilate, you know?
By the way, are there any 24-hr diners in this town? Just curious.
Amen! I look at that thing everyday on my way to work. I thought I was the only one who found it to be so aesthetically displeasing. It's not the tower itself that bothers me so much as that blue they've painted the sky. Yes, I've spent too much time thinking about this.
And sugahwafuhs -- as far as all night diners go you've got Southern Kitchen (usually good fun on the weekends) and IHOP. As far as I know that's it...sometimes you've gotta make your own fun. But, I think it's worth it.
Thanks! I didn't know Southern Kitchen was open all night. Of course, this old married lady ain't
exactly prowlin' around town much after dark, anyway. Given time...
That's where we disagree, sugah--I've live here most of my life, and I'm pretty sure this place will never be cool.
I am waiting to see if they have actual french food on the menu...
Heavy sigh. I'll take your word for it. So much for optimism. I knew it didn't suit me, anyway.
Uh, just to be clear here - again with the paradox of "we are always portayed as po-dunks" vs. "we are not po-dunks"....
where would you rather spend an evening with a date - 3 a.m. in Southern Kitchen, after a night of yakking all over yourself, or a "cultured" (not my term) restaurant, and then yakking all over yourself in S. Kitchen after an eloquent night of bar hopping?
Hey, at least the corporate whores are TRYING (to take your cash).
As Mr. Mom said, "220, 221 - whatever it takes."
Selah - ewx
btw - nice title for a take-off on the simpsons "worst episode ever," as delivered by the comic-book guy!
The people behind the restaurant are indeed French (except Shelly of course who was born here but spent most of her life in France). Think French Beverly Hillbillies however as this bunch has the bucks, but not the class. There is a personal reason for the restaurant being here in the first place, and it's NOT to bring culture to the area.
hmmm. every so often, interesting things DO come in anonymous packages...
Could it be to keep an inheritance????
Or to flee from trouble?
I suppose they could put the McDonald's back in its place.
Honestly, the mural doesn't bother me that much at all. The problem is the way that building is randomly placed beside the others. It looks like someone parked a doublewide on Capitol Street.
I think the mural is pretty hokey, and for all that talk about authenticity in the Gazette article, I wonder how many bistros in Paris have big murals of the Eiffel Tower emblazoned on their exterior walls.
I don't really give a damn, though, because it's a restaurant, so it's all about the food. Now I just need to find a date to take me there...
When that McDonalds closed, a friend of mine said it was in the NY Times because it was the first McD's to ever fail. Others have moved, but it failed.
If a McD's wasn't profitable there, it will be tough for any restaurant to succeed.
I can't wait to see the mural with the christmas lights they have outlining it turned on.
Now that's class!
I'm still sad that I never got to eat on one of the buses.
When they first brought in the double deckers, a co-worker and I wondered how long it would last. I gave it about a year and a half, he estimated a year.
So how about it Fifth Column: Do I hear a second for a closest to the pin contest here?
I ate on the bus and I bumped my head (I'm only 5'8)...soup and a minor concussion -- now that's a meal to remember.
I wasn't too keen on the restaurant, but I did enjoy the bar -- the Funky Rooster? Or something like that? It was a nice place to drink, play some pool and chill. Think a cross between Sam's and Vandalia.
I give 'em 6-12 months...
"Or to flee from trouble?"
Very good! America provides some domestic protections that France doesnt.
Obviously the only restaurant the owners have been to in France is McDonalds or maybe the Hard Rock Cafe. The French don't write things on their menus in Spanish and English! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Don't you realize that all things French will be the salvation of West Virginia? The idiot savants at the Gazette recently cited an article about WV in "Le Monde" - like any of us give a flying French-tickler fuck about what the French have to say about our State!
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/2005042711
Why the hell didn't this brilliant weblog rip that one to pieces?
BECAUSE THESE FOLKS DON'T KNOW SHIT
We (or at least I) didn't say anything about it because it seemed like one of those things that are best commented on with a pregnant, knowing, and condescending silence.
Much like the way I regularly deal with small children, cats, and women.
I think we've talked about the all caps thing before guys...
Quick question... If you guys hate this town so much, then why are you still here?? Go somewhere cooler if that's what you want so bad.
"Much like the way I regularly deal with small children, cats, and women."
You rat bastard!
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 7 — Bloggers — those Internet-based writers without rules — are fighting back against criticism that their work is unreliable, libelous or just poorly done.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap05-07-010334.asp?t=apnew&vts=5720050937
The only Paris restaurants that have different languages on the menus are the tourist traps that no actual Parisian would be caught dead in. These are typically located around the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs Elysées,… typical gathering places of tourists.
I find it laughable that Charleston can’t support an actual French restaurant, but rather a French-themed one. Fitting, I suppose, to the Charleston reputation as being a hot dog town.
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