The Chinese philosopher and poet Li Po once stated that the value of a grain of rice in your hometown depends on your own position relative to the grain of rice. When you are home, it's next to worthless. When you are thousands of miles away, all of a sudden this lowly grain of rice becomes an object of intense yearning, a symbol of your desire to reach out to something that will staunch your homesickness. We all heard stories of Japanese salaryman on foreign assignments tucking into packets of instant ramen noodles, too culture-shocked into trying out the unknown. Many stories were told of the Franco-Americans risking jail sentences to sneak Sabodet onboard US-bound flights, and people willing to spend hundreds of dollars to munch on St. Michel Galettes and Teisseire syrups when nowhere close to a Carrefour hypermart.
But suppose what happens when this object of yearning is...in itself, some mutated import, a stranger even in its supposed homeland? What then is the value of the concept of authenticity? That is the question of Paris Baguette. Paris Baguette is a bakery chain borne in a young, vibrant cosmopolitan city of lights stradding a mighty river of commerce, except it's not on the Seine, it's the Han, and the city is not called Paris, it's Seoul in South Korea, and thanks to its business acumen, the chain spread quickly to Asia and parts of North America.
It's interesting to see an Asian bakery pretending to be a Parisian boulongerie catering to Asian clienteles (which is fine, since the menu is mostly tweaked to their tastes) in their stores in Asia and North America. The French knows how to bake well, and I don't think they mind the Koreans borrowing their concepts as long as they acknowledge that it's still a Korean bakery making Western style products, and for the most part, they do. However, what would happen when they show up at the city of their culinary inspirations? They can either a) be true to themselves and establish their credentials as a Korean bakery with French influences (i.e. stay true to their Asian roots and customers) or b) pretend that they are a true bona-fide Parisian Patisserie/Boulangerie, ignore the Asian stuff they make everywhere else, and create a weird scenario where Korean tourists to their Parisian stores will not be able to recognize much of the items on offer here, and go home with the realization that the stuff they have been eating all along at home...was a bit of a lie. Such a cultural culinary quandry are not new - McDonalds, Krispy Kreme and KFC modify their menus to cater to local tastes. As do DeliFrance and Carrefour stores.
Paris baguette chose b) - when I walk through the door I realized that most of the items are unique to this store (not sure about the store in 2e/Opera), and unlike the kinda-expensive-but-still-asian bakery back home, it's now kinda like a Maison Keyser/Patisserie Paul, except more expensive, and not exactly true to its roots. The flavors of their baguettes? Middle of the road - I had them and are not sure if they are any better, or any worse than any average ones sold in the city. Unfortunately, this also includes the stuff sold in the automatic ovens at Monoprix/Carrefour locations. I think a photo from Paris Baguette's overseas locations can tell you the story - it's an obviously photoshopped photo of a supposed Parisian street scene with a Paris Baguette bakery on the corner. A quick look will reveal that such a scene does not exist in reality, but it is certainly put together by a talented graphics artist from their corporate offices in Seoul, and looks quite pretty hung in their stores worldwide...except in this one - the montage is nowhere to be seen, much like the typical blue awnings in their stores. Suppose if someone plaster that same photo into this store? Will they laugh? Or get mad? If they do, why?
How would you fairly rate this? Is it a Korean bakery running a Potemkin village French bakery in Paris? Or a Korean bakery pretending to be a French bakery based in Paris doing Asian style products, just so they can modify their corporate story and erase history?
Seriously. PB. Give up the charade. Be true to your Asian customers. read more