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The Entrepreneurs
Chez Carrie: How an American beat French bureaucracy to open a chic Paris bistro
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A
In April, Monocle hosts the Entrepreneurs Live in Shanghai, a one day conference bringing together founders, investors and innovators shaping businesses across China and the wider region. Join us there and visit monocle.com conference for more. Hello and welcome to the Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio. The show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. On today's program, we're heading to Paris to meet founders shaking up two of France's biggest and most sacred industries, food and and fragrance. First, we'll meet an American expat who took on one of the country's most competitive arenas, the neighborhood bistro.
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B
I just said, okay, let's go for it, thinking, you know, we'll just see what happens. And then everything kind of started to fall in place. And then before I knew it, I was like, oh my God, this is really happening. I'm opening a restaurant.
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A
And later we'll head to a Parisian perfume studio that's celebrating its 10 year anniversary with a new release.
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C
When I launch a new perfume, I try to learn something that never existed before. And I hope that we stand out by, by our uniqueness and creative independence.
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A
This is the Entrepreneurs with me. Tom Edwards, You're listening to the Entrepreneurs. Carrie Solomon is the chef owner of Chez Cary, a neighborhood bistro in Paris's 2nd arrondissement, just a few cobblestone streets from from Monocle's own cafe. A Michigan native who first arrived in the French capital to study photography, she built her career in food through cookbooks, recipe writing and consulting, carving out a place for herself in one of the world's most tradition bound culinary scenes. Carrie opened the restaurant in October last year following a personal tragedy that led her to originally step away from work. It was returning to the kitchen, she says, that helped her pick up some of the pieces and begin building something new. Our Laura Kramer caught up with carrie at Studio 5 in Paris to reflect on that journey, on resilience, and on what it takes to open a bistro. As an outsider in one of the world's most demanding culinary capitals, Carrie began by telling Laura how it all started.
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B
When I was 14, I met this really cool girl and her mom worked at like kind of the cool restaurant in town and she was the pastry chef and she made these really amazing desserts and she got us both jobs there. And so from the age of 14, I was always working in restaurants on like weekends, holidays, summer break. And so it was also the thing that kind of put me through school. I was able to pay for a lot of bills. And the four years that I was studying. I was also working sometimes more hours than I was actually in school. And so by the time I came to Paris, I thought, I'll do something different. Even though there was still this, like, this like, underpinning based on kind of like the food industry that was in me, I kind of again went somewhere else. So it was like I first went towards poli sci and then I went towards photography. But that it didn't last that long, I have to say, within like six months, I knew I wasn't going to be a fashion photographer and I wanted to be in the food business. And I've realized that getting into the French food business, which is notoriously, especially 20 something years ago, closed to outsiders. And there's like a whole ladder that you have to, or that you're kind of meant to go up. And so through image making and then I started recipe writing. I kind of got a spot in different kitchens where I was able to witness things, be next to chefs while they were preparing, doing mise en place, even thinking up recipes. So I had this kind of interesting way of arriving on the food scene in Paris.
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D
But you did, in the end do well in photography, I have to say. You said you worked for Elle for a bit, right?
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B
For Elle, I wrote recipes for several years of which I photographed them as well. And then I did some travel pieces and other food pieces for them.
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D
And at what point did the entrepreneurial bug take over? At what point did you decide, I would like to open up my own bistro in Paris.
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B
Oddly, it started when I had children. I kind of think I also started to reflect. You know, I knew that the years ahead were going to be focused on children, but I remember thinking as well, but what about me? Like, what. What should I really, like, plan for for the future? And I knew that being in kitchens made me really happy. So in addition to recipe writing for cookbook, my own cookbooks, I've done about 10 of them between France and international publications. And I've also consulted for restaurants, hotels. I worked at the Olympics. I cooked gold menus for the Roland Garros stadium. So kind of all of these different things going on, I knew that they were kind of like building towards something without perhaps being completely sure what that something was. There are moments when I thought maybe it's a catering business or it's, you know, just special events. And then there was this really amazing residency that kind of fell into my lap at this spot in the 11th, in 20, beginning of 2023. And it was there where I realized it kind of just gave me the keys to the place. I. I was running the kitchen and doing a lot, and I thought to myself, okay, like, if you do this, you'll know whether or not you're ready for your own place. And if you can, you know, handle this and then still want to, you know, get up every morning, work, work long hours, then maybe you really. You really have it in you. So that was, like, kind of like the first part of questioning. And then I had this. This part's a little bit more difficult to explain.
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D
You don't have to.
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B
If it's uncomfortable, I think it's perhaps worth mentioning because it does have an impact on how I came to open Shake. Harry, my husband, died suddenly, and I stopped working for a while, and I really pulled back. It was really sudden, so I was in shock for a number of. There was a lot to figure out about how to go forward with my life. And the thing that kind of ended up saving me and pulling me off the couch and out of bed was getting back in the kitchen. And so I went back to this restaurant that I had been cooking at on the 11th, and I would go, like, a couple days a week. I had a really good team who was really supportive, a really amazing sous chef named. And I kind of, like, got back into the saddle bit by bit. And then at the end of that residency, I did kind of decide it needed to end, and I needed to take some more time still, but then really look at things in a different way. And I knew that biting off something really big, like a really big project, would be kind of like a motor for me to. To continue forward. And I kind of went step by step. And then one day, I had somebody who was giving me a lot of advice, someone in the business, and she's like, but you're ready. Just go for it now. Start looking for your place. And I thought, well, what's it going to hurt? I'll just call this real estate agent that I know who works in the business and say, okay, let's start. And I figured at that point, this was about a year ago, actually. I figured, like, oh, it's gonna take forever, and it's gonna take, like, it's gonna be so difficult to find what I want.
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D
I'll have time and.
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B
Exactly. I thought, like, oh, maybe in a year, I'll. I'll find. I'll find the place that I'd like. And he sent me a couple messages just kind of describing, like, neighborhoods and places that were, you know, going to be available And I mean, like, two, two, three spots. He sent me over WhatsApp. I was like, no, I'm not interested in that. And then was leaving for New York to do some book promotion on Boheme cooking. He called me and he said, I have a spot, but you really need to go now. And I was like, what? Like, I haven't even packed my suitcase. I'm cooking in New York, and I haven't even, like, you know, figured out the whole menu. And then he's like, no, I think. I really think you should go. And it just sounds straight from you. I was like, oh. And when he said that, like, then my ears kind of popped up because I knew the restaurant needed to be really close to my apartment, and I ideally not far from the school of my daughters. And so I went, and it ended up being a place that I had been before. It turns out I knew I knew the chef, and it felt right. Kind of like from the first moment that I went in, in a way that then I was, like, questioning everything, but I was like, wait, this isn't supposed to happen yet. I'm not ready. I don't think anyone's ever ready to open a restaurant, no matter how much you prepare. Then I went to New York and I came back, and they were like, okay, what's your decision? I just said, okay, let's go for it, thinking, you know, we'll just see what happens. And then everything kind of started to fall in place. And then before I knew it, I was like, oh, my God, this is really happening. I'm opening a restaurant. And then it was just kind of sheer madness. Especially in France, opening a restaurant.
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D
Well, I was just going to say the French are known for their love of bureaucracy. Is it especially difficult if you are not a French national or originally from France, to navigate?
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B
It is, unfortunately. And I count myself really lucky because I have friends in the business. I've been coached. I had a great real estate agent, but still, banks brokers are really hesitant to work with profiles that they're less sure of. And so I've been here for 20 something years, but it's kind of silly. I still don't have French nationality. It's the next. The next step.
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D
The next hurdle.
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B
Yeah, the next hurdle. Which now I have to say, after getting through things that I've got through, it doesn't feel so. So big anymore. I realized that, like, the whole financial setup, not being a French national was going to be tricky. And it indeed was. I'll be honest. There were banks that I was told, like, don't even think about approaching them. The first loan broker that I met, I mean, it was a moment in, like, American politics. I mean, it's kind of always a moment in American politics these days. But she kind of said to me, she's like, oh, with the way, like, things are looking with, like, Trump and taxes, like an American in France, that's going to be really hard to get a loan. And I was. I was stunned, but I was like, okay, it's, yeah, true. Like, things are really fraught. In the end, I changed brokers, and I found somebody who told me, like, you know, we're going to make this happen. You have the right experience. One thing that I was told that really helped my dossier was the fact that I was going to be the owner, but I was also going to be the chef. And to be like, you know, that committed to a project. Not just, you know, I'm going to open a restaurant. I've got this idea. I'll find a chef. I'll find a team. But I was kind of, you know, like, the front line in the team, and still am. You see, I just ran here from busy lunch service, and I have to
- [12:22]
D
say, I stopped in the other day. It was totally purely by accident. I saw the bright, warm, yellow, inviting restaurant, and it was a terrible rainy day. And I was like, oh, I want to go there. It looks so nice. It looks like it could transport me from this terrible weather. I came in, and the food is amazing. The service is fantastic. And I thought, oh, my gosh, how long has this place been open? And it's been open since October.
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B
It's been open since. Yeah, October. It's been four. There's a little over four months.
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D
Oh, congratulations. And it all happened so quickly. Because it happened so quickly. Had you already had the idea of what the restaurant was going to be, or did you have to kind of, like, hurry that along a little bit and tell us about what we do find at Shake Cary.
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B
So the process, I knew more or less what I wanted to cook. I wanted a menu that was very vegetable focused, but really, like, generous and comforting. Really, really bright. Kind of big flavors that. And crunch and, like, acidity and spice that I feel that we do well in the US But I didn't want it to read as vegetarian. I didn't want to be, like, stamped as vegetarian. And so there are small. I knew there would be small amounts of animal protein, but more so used as condiments in kind of, like, you know, judicious quantities. And sourcing was super important for me. So I kind of knew who I wanted to work with. I found a farm just outside of Paris. But then like, you know, putting together the front part of the restaurant, certain elements in the kitchen, going through the different licenses that are needed when you change the color of facade or when you, you get a restaurant that has a terrace here and the previous owner had just like renewed his terrace. I don't know, like, or I just got his own license like not long before. But I had to go through the whole process again and everything. Like, I don't know, when you, when you buy a restaurant, you have, you start at zero. And so you have to get, you know, new, new authorizations for almost everything. But that was a bit, a bit nerve wracking. But I knew, I knew the vibe I wanted. And I had a friend, an architect friend who stepped in and was amazing. Her name's Nilima. And she, and she kind of put together this dream that I had that feels like a French bistro. I kept the original tiling, I kept the beams. I put in a really long bar contour that you can sit at and you have room for your, for your knees, for your belongings to hang a bag. And so that I all knew, I mean, putting it together especially during summertime with like, you know, the month of August, vacation here was obviously quite, quite
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D
nerve wracking, of course. And like I said, brand new, freshly opened. What can we look forward to, let's say in the, in the year ahead. Looking forward to your first anniversary.
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B
So something else that I kind of jumped right into. I knew, I knew when I, when I would open a restaurant that I wanted it to be a place for, for others, for other chefs and had a lot of female chef friends and cookbook authors in mind that could come cook there too and do events and cook with me, do book signings. And so I put together this calendar that's just begun for the next two months where I've invited different women to, yeah, to sign their books, to do demonstrations. We have a wine class coming up this weekend, a fermentation demonstration afterwards, sourdough pizza on a Friday night. The list kind of goes on. And we're going to have a spring party and in March. And so planning events like this especially, the idea too was like, if I have some events that are planned like this that will help us get through the, you know, the rainy months in Paris, winter. So something that people can look forward to is different. You know, we say in French, accatement brunch or dinner that we cook with different guest chefs. And so that, that goes until the end of, end of March. And then the terrace opens. We have a beautiful terrace on a street that's pietan, so it's a foot, foot traffic. The whole whole half of the whole half of the first. The front part of the restaurant opens up. So I'm really hoping that, you know, it'll just feel kind of, kind of breezy and, and we'll, you know, quickly be enjoying this warm weather food wise. So we're doing quite a bit of fermentation of pickling and we've made it through winter and we've, you know, managed to ferment and pickle like anything that can be, can be done any variety of squash. And I have to say there's some really vibrant colors there. But now I'm really looking forward to spring and to, you know, some new offerings.
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A
That was Carrie Solomon, chef owner of Chez Cary in Paris. And you can find out more by heading to Sheikharry.com. Youm're listening to the entrepreneurs. David Benedek is the founder and creative director of BDK Parfum, an independent fragrance house he launched a decade ago in Paris. Raised in a family of perfumers, David grew up surrounded by scent and stories in his grandparents boutique in the French capital. Laura Kramer headed to the brand's flagship perfume studio in the Palais Royal neighborhood to Discuss the company's 10 year anniversary and the release of a new fragrance. David began by telling Laura about his latest creation.
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C
Our new perfume is Velvet Tonka xtray which is the X ray version of Velvetonka. Velvetonka was launched in 2022 and this year we're launching the X ray which is a bit different from the original. I would say that the X ray is a bit the natural evolution of Le Vettonka original. We have added a beautiful pistachio aqua with a soft leather notes on the back. We have kept the Tonka and the almond. And I would say that the Le Tonka X ray is even more gourmand than the original. I think the original is more floral and the new X ray is more gourmand.
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D
And for this you collaborated again with Alexandre Carlin. You've done this before. It's a creative partnership you keep returning to. Why is that?
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C
Because I feel very good with her. I get along very well with Alexandra. She became my friend first. I have a lot of respect for all what she created. I think Alexandra, she's an amazing perfumer. She knows how to be creative and to be understood at the same time, which is very important. And the way she put balance and refinement in her formula is just everything for me. It's super creative, and at the same time, it's very wearable, which I love.
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D
Is there a scent that you still haven't fully captured, that you'd really like to play with? That's something that kind of lingers in your mind? I'm sure you're always thinking about combinations, but is there an area you've not gone into yet?
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C
Yeah, I would love. There's many things that I would love to explore again, new things that I would like to explore in the. In the perfume. Maybe something that smells like the sky. Something very free, where you feel free from everything, you know, and that you have the feeling of flying. I don't know how I would do that, but I would love to create the smell of the sky. A beautiful sky, a blue sky, a bright sky.
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D
And how many. How big is the team now?
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C
In our studio, we are 24 people working, and in the flagship, there are three people. And we have more people working in the departments in Paris. I would say, in total, we were around 30 people. Yes. I began alone, so 10 years ago, I was alone. And now I have a team of 30 people. And I'm very proud of that. And my team is like my family, so I'm very happy.
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D
And because that family aspect is so important to you, that's what you grew up around. That's how you want to build it. How do you know when you find a team member that gets it? You're like, yes, we need to have this person on our team.
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C
You know it very, very quickly. Yeah. After one week, you know that if it's the right person or no, you. You feel it. I don't know how to explain. It's a feeling. It's an emotion you. You feel inside.
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D
Now, the new scent pays homage to your Moroccan roots and childhood afternoons with your grandmother. How do you translate a memory like that into a scent?
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C
It comes very natural, I would say it's not something you decide, is something that you. You f. You feel inside your soul, inside your heart. It's a long process. I think it's something that you. You interiorize to your own body, your own soul. And then finally, unconsciously, you just imagine a send through memories. And then when you try to work on the formula on the paper, it comes very naturally, you know, for example, if you take the example of Bouquet d', Angville, which is the memory of the. Of my grandmother's garden. For me it was very clear how I would like this garden to smell with like the green side of the flower in the water. Because in Paris it rains quite a lot, so it's always a bit aquatic flowery. So I knew that I wanted to take that direction. So I don't know, it's something very natural for me.
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D
I love that. And of course you come from a perfume family.
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C
Yeah.
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D
A very quick bio, if you wouldn't mind. Remind listeners your heritage, I guess.
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C
Yeah, I mean, my grandparents from my father's side, they arrived from Transylvania in the 50s in Paris. And at the basic. My grandfather, he used to be a lawyer, but before he couldn't be a lawyer because there was not the recognition of the diploma. So he needed to do another. Another job. And my grandmother, she became a facial therapist. So she began to give a lot of facial to all the. All the Transylvanian Hungarian women that were living in Paris. And at that time all these women were beginning to wear perfume. And she asked to my grandfather to buy her a perfume. And this is how he got the idea to open a perfumery shop and to sell all the big names of the perfumery at that time, like Christian Dior flat to worth to a lot of customers. And his first clientele were the American customers visiting Paris. Then my parents took care of the shop and I grew up surrounded by perfume.
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D
Of course you did. And in this sense. And so your creativity was always going. And we've spoken a little bit before about the creation of the bottle and the design of the bottle, because there's a very important monument here in Paris. That was the idea behind it. Tell me a little bit about that.
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C
Yeah, because for the design of the bottle, I was very inspired by the shape of the roof of the building in Paris. But rather than being inspired just by one roof, I wanted to give like a meaning, a message inside. And I thought about what. What is my. One of my most preferred building in Paris? And I thought about Le Grand Palais, because the Grand Palais, you know, this is a very beautiful place built by Gustav Efel, where you have all the fashion show art exhibition. So it's a place that showcases creativity in general. So I thought it was a nice message to put inside the design. And so the shape of the cap is very inspired by the shape of the roof of the Grand Palais.
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D
And what inspires you now? Do you watch those Chanel shows that happen at the Grand Palais? Of course you did.
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C
I love fashion in general. You know, I studied Fashion. During my master degree I graduated from a French institute of fashion and of course I love fashion in general. So Chanel is definitely one of the show that I'm watching and I really like it.
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D
Now you are also very committed to producing everything in France. Why is that so important to you today?
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C
Oh, it's a good question. It's not because I'm nationalist or whatever. Isn't that, you know, important to say that I'm very proud to be friends but I think there's a lot of beautiful know how everywhere in the world and there are so many beautiful things to see everywhere. But I wanted to have a very strong connection and relationship with all my supplier and for me it was important that they, they could be in France so I could visit them quite often, you know, and that I could build this proximity with them. So that's why I was looking for suppliers that were not living too far away from Paris and at the same time they were all independent family business, a bit like me. So I wanted to have this kind of connection with them.
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D
And you also get that structure.
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C
Yeah, true, exactly.
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D
We are in the flagship store two years now since you've been here. There's of course also perfume dedicated to it. What's next? Do you think you're going to open up more locations? What do you think about.
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C
Yeah, definitely. I hope so. It's part of our project. I mean, for me it's very important to have both retail landscape, our flagship, where our customer can live the BDK parfait experience and we can welcome them in our DNA in our stores. And at the same time we need the partners, we need the department stores, the beautiful retailers to speak about us and to showcase our know how. Because it's a balance between having your own store and creating connection with our partner, you know, so I need both actually.
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D
And I wanted to come back to that point about craftsmanship and artistry. Because you worked with ceramic artists to create something Moroccan. Yeah, yeah, tell me about that.
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C
Yeah, actually, you know, Velvet Tonquia is the, is the tribute to my Moroccan roots. My mother, she was born in Morocco and so Velvet Tonquia is inspired by this, you know, pastries made of almond, orange blossom, rose, sugar glazed. It's called com de Gazelle. I wanted to work with American artists to showcase the new X ray, Velvet X ray. And also he's a ceramist artist. He has a, he has a atelier based in Fest in Morocco and in Toulouse. So we went there to work with him and to collaborate with him. To create this beautiful column of ceramic. And it's called the, the exhibition is called Truss. Truss in French, in English would mean when you leave something behind you, it's like a truss. Maybe trace in English you would say maybe. Yeah. Something that, that lasts behind you. That lasts behind. And so this is our Moroccan heritage that is symbolized in this column.
- [27:09]
D
I really like that. And what else are you working on? Because I know, I know you're always going, you're traveling a lot. What's down the line, you know, 20, 26? What are your plans, first of all, for the 10 year anniversary?
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C
So there are many things coming out. It's a bit computational still, but we'll have a very beautiful event in Paris during 10 days in a special place from June 5 until June 15. It will be like a. A special place that we animate inside Paris. It will be located in Palais Royale. There will be like a beautiful launch coming in May to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brand. Yeah, for sure. I cannot say more about that, but I will keep you updated.
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D
Okay, sounds good. And you are expanding internationally as we talked about, especially also including to the Middle East. We're there a lot. When you are approaching these markets that already have such strong perfume cultures, how do you make yourself stand out and say, hey, take us seriously too?
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C
That's a good question. You know, you have the offer there is so huge. There are so many brands. So how you stand up, I don't know, maybe you stand up by your authenticity, by the fact that all the stories that you tell to your customer are real, by the quality of your. Of your offer, you know, because we're very picky about all the raw material that we use in our formula. And we try to be very creative at the same time. When I launch a new perfume at bdk, I try to learn something that never existed before, something very unique. And I hope that we stand out by our uniqueness and creative independence, I would say.
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D
And if you had to describe the future of BDK in one sentence, what would it be?
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C
I hope that BDK Parfum will remain this beautiful house coming from Paris. That it will grow, but in a very natural way, you know, and that the desirability of our work will remain forever.
- [29:05]
A
That was David Benedek, the founder and creative director of BDK PathFarm. And you can find out more about the business by heading to bdkpufffarm.com. And that's all for this episode of the Entrepreneurs. We'll be back at the same time next week. The program's produced by Laura Kramer with audio editing by Jack Dewars. You can listen again and find out more about the show@monocle.com that's where you can, and indeed should subscribe to Monocle magazine so you can read more about better businesses every month. You can also follow us and catch up with the archive wherever you get your audio. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, do email Laura on lrkonical.com I'm Tom Edwards. Goodbye and thanks for listening to the entrepreneurs.