So you think you are a typical New Yorker – or know a lot about New York City?
Ever heard the joke about how New Yorkers are perceived by others:
The only Americans that foreigners generally like and other Americans dislike.
Frenchman: Are you an American?
Me: No, I’m a New Yorker.
Frenchman: Sacré bleu! What a relief!
Take this quick quiz to test your knowledge.
This time we are featuring one of the first EuroCircle members in Chicago – Natalie Mosallam. Natalie and her fiancee John decided to change their lives and started a company called A Toast to Travel, LLC. It is not hard to figure out that the company provides travel management services. Let’s find out from Natalie in her own words what and why this means to them. Every entrepreneur faces different challenges and everyone to some extent faces the same challenges.
Why and how did you start?
I lived in Europe for many years and fell in love with Italy ( I am fluent in Italian and French). When I met my current fiancé, we decided we wanted a lifestyle change. We worked in corporate America for a combined, 20+ years and really wanted to transform our lives and share our passion for international travel. We want to help people experience Europe like a local and celebrate their lives!
A Toast to Travel is all about experiencing the best Italy has to offer. We will be expanding into other countries but for now, we offer two experiences.
Our Tuscan Wine and Culture Experience takes people on great wine journeys to hidden, hard to find wineries for amazing wine tastings (and farm to table cuisine) and is based in Florence, Italy with city sites and cultural treasures.
Our Cooking Under the Tuscan Sun Experience is all about relaxation where you learn to cook each day, yoga in the morning, a painting under the Tuscan sun class and drinks by the pool. This experience is based in the Tuscan countryside at a beautiful restored villa with private rooms.
What is/are the best skill/s you have for this business and/or relationships?
As an international and technology attorney, I bring keen business skills to every negotiation and business relationship. All my experience to-date as an attorney and business person helps in shaping who I am and what I contribute to A Toast to Travel. Years of working with teams and building business relationships (nationally and internationally) certainly comes in handy when you are in the travel business.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
Learning many different languages and acclaiming to many different cultures has made me very adaptable and given me the keen ability to understand people of all walks of life. These experiences have also made me very open minded and overall, a deeper person.
I am very grateful for my experience so far and do my best to give back. I volunteer at a women’s shelter as a business coach and mentor. It’s critical to have role models who help you to aspire to move up. I also work with refugees and help with their transition to the US culture.
What do you consider as your biggest success and failure?
The biggest success is launching our dream company, A Toast to Travel! And my biggest failure is not launching sooner.
What is your top challenge?
Our top challenge right now is getting the word out to our target market — whether that’s groups of friends who want to travel together, couples or girls’ trips.
Who is your most important role model?
My grandmother — she was an immigrant from Lebanon many years ago and taught herself how to read and write English.
She also had to support her family as her husband died not long after they arrived in the US. She rolled up her sleeves, would take the bus everyday (even in freezing weather) and become one for first chef’s in Detroit sharing her Lebanese recipes.
As for other female leaders I admire –Oprah Winfrey—she started with very little and she’s one of the most influential women in the world today. She’s a household name!
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
You need to really plan for it and then, implement. Go for it! Life is short.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
Having served as the ambassador for gender equality for the United Nations Association, Chicago, I would say that the biggest issue in the US is equal pay for equal work. We really need to work on this and get this one right.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Be grounded, be deliberate and have faith. It will work out. I am not great at work/life balance. I am still working on that one.
What do you want A Toast to Travel to accomplish in the next year?
I would like to see tons of people going on our Experiences and having a great time while living life to the fullest!
We will also be expanding the countries/regions where we offer amazing experiences.
Tuscany countryside
Call Natalie or John with any questions: 312.504.8640
Email Us
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/A.toast.to.travel
TWITTER: twitter.com/Atoasttotravel
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/tuscanwineandtravel
Social media: www.linkedin.com/company-beta/15238883/
I asked Liubov to tell us about her running, I used to like to run while I live in NYC for a while. 3-4 times a week I ran twice around the Reservoir in Central Park. I lived on Upper West Side on West 88th Street so that was so close by. I lost weight even if I did not try to lose weight. A few years later I developed asthma and now running or even quick walking is sometimes hard for me. I start coughing and none of the inhalers seem to work. I miss it. Liubov looks great – and very healthy. Sigh….I am a bit jealous. I recall feeling powerful.
There are so many opinions about running: some may love some may hate. I am the one who had a journey from hate to love. You may be wondering how Ukrainian girl ended up training for 42 kilometers (26.2 miles) in Austin, Texas, so let me tell you my story.
WHY IS RUNNING NOT MY THING
“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.”
— Oprah Winfrey
If someone told me I would be running one day I wouldn’t believe it. Starting from the school age I used to hate running with all my fibers. All the school running tests ended up for me with a big failure. I could barely run 500 meters. I had that terrible side pain, known as “side stitch” and a metallic taste in my mouth every time I tried to run. While I was studying at University – and later – I had several attempts to start running but it didn’t work for me. So I decided that running is not “my thing”.
MOVING TO THE USA
About couple years ago my husband and I moved to US. My husband started running and encouraged me to run as well but I didn’t want because I was afraid of feeling again that side pain and metallic taste in my mouth. But my husband was quietly persistent. He just explained to me how I should start running and what I am doing wrong. Also running was very beneficial for me because I was overweight and wanted to lose some weight.
GETTING STARTED
I decided to start doing something unreal for me at the moment. I bought my first running shoes at Texas Running Company. The idea was to motivate myself in some way that I would stick to the running at least for some time because I bought 120 dollars running shoes. I knew it would be very tough but I wanted to give it a try. I chose the most simple training plan for the beginners. The main idea was to get used to run. The plan consisted from 8 weeks. I had to run 3 days a week starting with 20 minutes very-very slow run, almost in a walking pace. Each week I had to add 2 or 3 minutes of running time in order to run 40 minutes by the end of 8th week. My pace was about 13:30-14:00 min/mile. But the pace wasn’t important at the time. I was so happy be able to run my first 5K distance even at that slow pace. At least I could run. So at the end of that training plan I was starting feeling a pleasure from running, which was very funny and weird for me.
Once I finished my first training plan I decided to set another goal: to improve my pace. My next training plan had not just easy run trainings but intervals as well (short intense run with recovery time). With intervals came back that terrible side pain and metallic taste in the mouth. Intervals were pretty tough for me. But this time I decided not to give up and continue my training anyway.
ENDOMONDO PREMIUM TRAINING PLAN
Now when I could run somehow I wanted to try something new and more challenging for me so I went for 10K training and chose Endomondo Premium training plan. I experienced easy nice training and terribly hard ones like intervals. Sometimes I woke up in a good mood, sometimes in a very bad one but I kept pushing myself. I finished my Cap10K in 1:01:55. So what’s next, you may think?
More challenging race – half-marathon.
HALF-MARATHON AND FULL MARATHON
Half-marathon preparation took about 5 months. It was not that easy to train in Texas weather though it kept me challenging. That distance is very serious and needs great dedication and hard work. I trained 4 times a week with different types I finished half-marathon in 1:58:22. It is quiet a good time for the person who started running 15 months before.
No way I can stop challenging myself. After half-marathon I decided to try a full marathon even though it really scared me. My training plan is 23 weeks. Full marathon is no joke, it takes more training time. This time I have to run 5 time per week. Trainings can be from 40 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes. For some medical reasons I had to stop training for little bit more than 2 weeks. That was hard and weird not to run but I couldn’t and wasn’t allowed to. Once I was cleared by doctor I came back to my training but with a slower pace. During about 2-3 weeks I felt alive again. Running helped my speedy recovery. Few weeks ago I ran two half marathon – River Road Half Marathon in New Braunfels (1:47:58) and 3M Half Marathon here in Austin (1:45:46). Now I’m 2 weeks away from my first full marathon (26.2 miles). My predicted marathon time is 4 hours. I am so excited and worried at the same time but I know, I can do it.
I am a runner and I am so proud to be one. I run in rain, frost, fog, wind, heat, freeze and I love it! I can’t say it easy, sometimes it’s really hard. But I am unstoppable because I am a runner. Now I know that everyone can learn to run.
There are so much more challenges ahead and many goals to reach. Dream big! Set goals. Move towards them!
HOW TO FIND LIUBOV IN AUSTIN
Liubov at Facebook
Liubov at linkedIn
Got ice?
Oline and Jo Detavernier moved Texas from Bruges, Belgium in 2015.
They live in New Braunfels with their 8-year-old boy Tristan.
Oline is American. Before moving to Belgium fifteen years ago she lived in Bakersfield, CA. Oline runs Tikiz of Hill Country, a spectacular shaved ice and ice cream truck. She goes to festivals, customer appreciation parties, sports games, you name it!…
A big thing for her is the fundraising. Any non-profit organization that invites Tikiz over gets at the end of the event a check worth 20 percent of all sales. In its first year in business Tikiz has donated thousands to non-profit causes. Oline mostly operates in the San Antonio – New Braunfels corridor. For major events (let’s say at least an estimated $500 in sales) Oline will also drive up to Austin.
Jo is Belgian. He is not a shaved ice or ice cream expert (although he is known to consume quite a lot of it under the guise of ‘quality testing’).
He is a marketing and PR expert and works as a partner for Manzer Communications in Austin. He counsels his wife on promoting the business so as many lovers of cold sweets as possible get to discover Tikiz.
Oline misses the easy access to an (affordable!) doctor in Belgium whenever she needs one.
Jo misses the quality foods and having different countries available within just hours driving distance.
CONNECT WITH OLINE AND JO:
Jo Detavarnier at EuroCircle
Jo at Facebook
You will find more about Tikiz of Hill Country on www.facebook.com/tikizhillcountry
EuroCircle members who know me well know I love art so they would know I love art – I did not enough talent to become an artist but I am always happy to check out art and support artists.
This weekend is one of the rare chances to visit artists in their studios in organized manner. Why don’t you go and visit one of the EuroCircle members, Katerina Tsasis.
How did you end up in Austin?
I was born in San Francisco, to parents who had recently arrived to the U.S. from Greece.
My dad worked for the railroad and my mom spent a lot of time volunteering for the local Orthodox church. I spent most of my life in California, growing up in the Bay Area and moving to Los Angeles for college. In 2003-2004, I studied in France and Singapore, which gave me the opportunity to visit several countries and experience new cultures. A few years later, I was itching to try something new and had a job opportunity in Austin. I’ve been here since 2011 and I don’t have plans to move any time soon.
When did you start painting?
I’ve been painting and drawing off and on since I was a teenager, but I’ve been shy about my work and have just recently started showing it more publicly. I am really drawn to artists who use vivid color, like Van Gogh and Matisse, and I think that love of color comes out in some of my more recent paintings.
You’re exhibiting in the East Austin Studio Tour – why should EuroCirclers attend?
The East Austin Studio Tour is a fantastic event put on every year by a non-profit called Big Medium. This is the 15th year and there are over 500 artists participating all over East Austin. You can look up the map online and pick a few to visit by driving, walking, or biking. Some of my favorite stops on the tour this year include the artist collectives at Cement Loop (5611 Berkman Drive) and Canopy (916 Springdale Road), as well as two lovely studios that are in my neighborhood, Little Lady Studio (4713 Ruiz Street) and Los Nichos (4417 Mattie). And come by my place, Tsasis Studio (4537 Ruiz Street) – I’d love to see more EuroCircle faces this weekend!
When & Where:
Tsasis Studio 4537
Ruiz Street
Saturday November 19 and Sunday November 20
11am to 6pm
Follow Katerina’s art at: instagram.com/tsasis_studio
More info on the tour at: http://east.bigmedium.org/
We love introducing interesting Europeans to our members – and since I work for a startup I have real fondness for entrepreneurs.
Le Marche, the heart of Italy’s leather and shoemaking industry, is where our interviewee ELISA ROSSI grew up. Le Marche is a place where timeless, quality pieces of everyday luxury are considered a rightful part of life, regardless of anyone’s income or social class. Why is that? People’s values are heavily influenced by such a long artisanal tradition which is amazing to me. As a young woman, Elisa had dreamed of helping those artisans bring their products to the global audience. She had left Le Marche to study abroad and ended up in the Silicon Valley.
Elisa’s goal is to democratize not only timeless luxury essentials but also the lifestyle that allows people to fully enjoy them.
The belief that embracing luxury every day – whether by owning a precious leather handbag or by slowly living in the moment – is as essential to a quality human life as air.
Who are You?
My name is Elisa Rossi and I am Italian tech executive turned fashion entrepreneur.
As a fellow female entrepreneur, I wanted to personally reach out and introduce myself and my company, Rossi & Rei.
Tell us how someone who worked at Apple and Square turns into a fashion entrepreneur?<
I no longer felt connected to the Italian lifestyle I grew up with, where I felt fully present, beautiful and alive. I became used to moving too fast.
I forgot how to appreciate the feel of cashmere or full-grain vegetable tanned leather.
What does Rossi & Rei mean to You?
Rossi & Rei is my way of embracing the luxury of Italian living everyday, and is something I feel is essential for everyday living, not just reserved for special occasions.
TRUNKSHOW – Dec 8 2016 in Soma
Connect with Elisa Rossi
Ross & Rei website
Elisa Rossi @LinkedIn
Email Elisa
Get to know Rossi & Rei founder Elisa on Nov 17 2016 Jazz event at Muka Lounge…we also have a wonderful trunk show in the works
I happened to hear from a Polish friend that there are these Russian guys who have started a very cool anti-cafe concept called the Glass Hour in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I contacted Max Grigoryev who is one of the founders of Glass Hour Cafe. Let’s see in Max’s own words about the opening of the first anti-cafe concept in the US.
Max, I was reading a little bit about what you guys have done. You have an anti-café, is that my understanding? Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn?
Yes we are located on a quiet street in Williamsburg, just a few blocks from the Lorimer L train. The concept is the following: You have unlimited cocktails/drinks; everything inside is unlimited. We have high-speed WiFi. We have lots of cool features, and the only thing patrons pay for is time.
We charge five cents per minute, three dollars per hour, or twelve dollars per day.
Note: The real bargain is to stay all day because time is free after you hit the four-hour mark ($24).
How did you get the idea of … I know it’s a European concept, but how did you guys decide to bring it to Brooklyn and to New York?
We are from Russia where this concept was born in Russia. We used to go to Shish Kalpesh in Moscow. We learned how to organize the space, how to work in it, and how to manage everything inside.
We moved to New York a year ago. We realized that there were no cafes, where people could work or just chill out with their friends. Not a noisy place with lots of drinks; just a place to relax, or play board games, for example. We checked around the local places where people can play board games. There were many cafes or bars, but patrons needed to pay for drinks and food; otherwise. They couldn’t sit there and play. That’s why we decided to create a completely new concept in NYC. People like the concept a lot. They tell us how great and calm the atmosphere is.
Max, how do you differ from Starbucks and other cafes in your opinion?
We don’t place any pressure on people. They can serve themselves if they get coffee, take snacks, and other things. It’s real calm; a real good place to work.
So you are open from morning until night, or seven days a week? How does your hourly structure work?
We’re open from 10 am to 10 pm every day. We can expand the hours, if you want to book the whole space until 1 am or 2 am for special occasions such as to celebrate your birthday party, or you want to invite your friends to just chill out. On the weekends, we can work until 12am or 1am.
Do you ever have live music, or special guests or anything? Or is it more just very low-key …?
We have music there, but it’s not live. We have some really cool board games. We would like to have special guests, lectures, meet up with designers, and host live music, but we need to get the audience together. We’re trying to move forward in that and work with more creative experts, like designers or marketers.
So you’re looking to also bring in artists, and different people as well, and do different things so you can get a wide range of different audiences?
We had a few exhibitions in Williamsburg a few weeks ago. We’re planning to have a few exhibitions next month.
How many people does your café fit if it was at capacity? And special events – how does that work? Or do people bring their own stuff in?
The total capacity is around 25 people who can sit. We have two floors. If this is an event where people want to sit, walk around, and drink some champagne, we can have 30 or 35 people. We allow people to bring their own stuff to the café.
If you need to work the whole day long, the only thing we have is snacks, water and tea. If you want to get lunch, you can go buy lunch and come back. If we host an event, we’ll allow everybody to bring their own food and drinks.
Are you looking to, now that you’re open here, are you looking to expand to different cities, or are you just looking at more here in New York, or any other cities ?
Right now, we’re going to expand here in New York City. We’re going to probably create some really good events. Right now, we’re trying to reach out to different publishers to write about us. We think we can stir things up here. The tourists seem really interested in this concept. Probably in the future, we will open a few cafes in Boston or in Washington.
That makes sense so you can get people to know more about it. Then once people know more about it then you can expand to other larger cities too.
People are not familiar with the concept. We always need to tell people more about how it works, to explain to people how they can benefit from it. It takes time. Once this concept spreads around, then we’ll probably think of new markets and new locations.
When people come in to either work or socialize, do they pay … I know you can pay a daily fee, but do you do like monthly memberships and give discounts, or, how does that work?
The payment scheme is the following. When you come in, you pay $3 fixed for the first hour, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend there. After the first hour, you pay by the minute. It’s five cents a minute. For example, if you need to work the whole day long, it will be cost $12 for four hours. If you want to pay one month ahead, it’s two hundred dollars and you have a month’s access to our café. The monthly membership is best.
Do you give monthly people priority as far as working in your café if you’re close to capacity? Or how does it work?
We don’t have lots of members right now, so we don’t need to give special priority to those people. But as we get more members, we will provide more perks… The monthly pass will have special access to the computers, special access to the desks, and so on.
What made you guys decide to actually, one, come from Russia to New York, and also why did you want to open up the anti-café? Was it just something that you really loved when you were abroad? Or is it just you want to do something different?
We just wanted to create some new sort of environment for different entrepreneurs to work wherever and whenever they want to. We actually worked in that type of place in Moscow, and that’s why we decided to open one here.
Do you see a lot of differences from Russia versus New York as far as the people that you work with? How do the different countries … I guess, how do you say that? I guess the differences.
It’s a very difficult question because the whole concept was born a few years ago in Moscow and there are a lot of cafes like that in Moscow because people like it.In New York, people want to use it. We just opened three weeks ago and everybody is coming in to our cafe.
In Moscow, people are interested in making a career in a big, huge company. Here those people think about entrepreneurship, they’re self-motivated, they want to go out or go into the bar. The audience is completely different. For example, in Russia, people typically use it to chill out,or play some board games. Here people come to work, and they usually chill out on the weekends. That’s the big difference with the audience.
I feel like in the US a lot of people are very entrepreneurial and like to, as you said, work longer hours, and really want to build and do more things and build stuff, like you guys are doing here with your anti-café.
Exactly, and the whole concept is how you can pay for one hour at our place,and it’ll cost you less than what you pay for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Is there anything as far as food or different things you miss from Russia? Can you find all the different things that you had there in New York? Is there anything you miss as far as either food or culture or just the lifestyle?
To be honest, it’s like two separate worlds. People in Moscow, people in Russia, people in the United States are completely different, and that’s because, for example, this financial crisis in Russia, ruined people a lot. The whole economy and lots of people are suffering. Here in the United States, you have more opportunities to grow.
I’ve lived in Moscow, I’ve been to St. Petersburg, and I’ve been there a few times. People are scared of going somewhere really far from their home country, and they always think bad things happen there. It could happen all the time.
In your free time, outside of working and being in your café, are there any cool things that you enjoy doing on the weekends or when you do take nights off and do things?
I used to play hockey when I was in Moscow. I moved here a year ago, so I’m trying to find a place where I can play. I want to get back to hockey. I also like travelling, so when I have a free day or two, I’m trying to travel. Everything depends on how much free time I have as I like meeting new people.
Is there anything else that you want to share about either your café or living in New York or anything else you want to share with us?
We can host an event, we can work with different designers, architects, we are open to anything. The concept is straightforward. You basically can get snacks, coffee, tea, and everything.
We have a website. It’s glasshour.co. Plus, we have different social networks. We have Twitter and Instagram accounts, and appear on Yelp. You can also find an article about us on Out Loud.
Connect with Max Grigoryev and the Glass Hour Cafe:
Our company twitter handle is: glasshour
Our instagram handle is: @glasshour
Our website is www.glasshour.co
Facebook is glasshour
The purpose of EuroCircle is to bring to life the multiple stories behind European, Europhiles and the good people who surround us. There is great food, culture, art, education, startups, families, heartbreaks, and romances.
Today, I would like to introduce you to Lindsey and Eric Fillion, the owners of Pardon My French Bar & Kitchen in San Diego. I “met” Eric online a few years back but never really knew what he did and since I personally don’t live or visit San Diego, I never thought I would have the opportunity or reason to interview Eric. However, that all changed when one of our favorite Austin members, David Lowe (UK) and his lovely wife decided to move to San Diego. One day David and I were both admiring the cutest name for a restaurant, Pardon My French Bar & Kitchen and then I realized I actually knew the owner. I became incredibly curious to hear their story and decided to reach out to them so that I could share it with you.
Who are you two and how did you meet?
We are a husband and wife team who own a small neighborhood French fine dining restaurant in Hillcrest. “I am a San Diego native and Eric is a French Canadian from Montreal”, says Lindsey.
“We met in the winter of 2008 at the Casbah, a small but well known bar for local musicians. Lindsey worked as a promoter and was wearing a pair of red high heels and I wanted to compliment her style, so that’s how our first conversation began” Eric recalls. Casbah was not really his cup of tea in many ways but he happened to be there for his friend’s birthday celebration. Eric spent the majority of his life as a top ranked professional Ballroom & Latin dancer, so dive bars with live rock and roll wasn’t on his list of choice.
So this was a professional connection that grew slowly into a romance?
No, we were both there for a mutual friend’s birthday and the romance began at “hello”. We had an immediate connection. The two of them laughed and explained: “When Lindsey was making her exit from the Casbah, she yelled out her phone number”. “If he remembers, he remembers, and let the chips fall where they may”, Lindsey thought to herself.
Eric counted on his friends to help him to remember Lindsey’s telephone number, each of them memorizing different parts of the number. They later tallied their notes and Eric had a full number. Slow burning romance was not in his mind. In fact, three weeks later he proposed to Lindsey. Eric even asked her father for permission.
Following 25 years in a career built on continuous hosting, some might consider taking a step back and not opening a bar and kitchen.
Why did the two of them open this restaurant?
Eric says since the time he was 11 years old he had in his mind to own a bar or restaurant. Not to mention there is a difference as he says “before, I was hosting for other people.”
He wanted the freedom to construct his own experience for others to enjoy. In many ways Lindsey felt the same. “I have always been a “social butterfly” as my parents would say, a natural hostess and believer that providing people with a comfortable and inviting space to occupy can improve your well being, which is what drew me to both of my previous professions, Interior Design and Music promotion. They may seem like polar opposites to some but to me they are not mutually exclusive. When I met Eric, I was promoting and booking events for Rockit Entertainment where we helped musicians find their place in the local music scene and produced events for them to shine. Prior to that, I was an Interior Designer who specialized in yacht design. Being social, outgoing and elevating others made me happy on a personal level and the Interior Design provided me with a creative outlet to beautify someone’s surroundings. We have combined those elements in the restaurant; we are constantly socializing, we provide a warm and welcoming environment and even book live entertainment every Friday and Sunday, and occasionally Thursday”.
How did the name come up?
We were determined to find our own stage to do what we wanted with our multiple interests. We started Pardon My French events, a series of art exhibits raising money for “A Reason To Survive”, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing art and music supplies, plus education, to children in the San Diego community. Kids would otherwise be unable to explore and nurture their creative talents.
areasontosurvive.org. We had a tagline “Emerging art, fine champagne, and sexy music – welcome to the good life.”
People loved the events but we were losing money. Donations were less than the costs which happens easily with art events. We wanted upscale events, which meant catering and we also felt compelled to provide some sort of donation to insure the nonprofit benefited. We had no choice – the exhibits had to be put on the back burner.
Lindsey says “We knew we had a great idea, but needed to put the plan to bed and re-think our business model. We started searching for properties. We are pretty certain at one point we must have known every restaurant and bar for sale in San Diego. Once we entered HEAT on Park Blvd. we knew we had found OUR spot.”
Why did you like the location?
Eric says “two things made 3797 Park Blvd the only acceptable choice. First, we personally clicked with the previous owners and they were fastidious about cleaning the place – we have kept it up. Even at the end of the week after we have served 800 covers, it is still the cleanest kitchen in San Diego. Second, we both feel at home here.”
When they first came to the restaurant they were having dinner with Lindsey’s parents. A group of four, all different ages, and each one of them agreed. The space cost more than they had budgeted but Eric and Lindsey decided to take their chances.
Eric says “all that has happened to me in my past, and all that has happened to Lindsey in her past, it all amalgamated and we ended up here, home. Even though we are from such different backgrounds, we have many things in common. I have spent my entire adult life, 25 years on the ballroom dance floor, everything was host driven. We are doing the same thing now, just with a restaurant.”
It did not scare you off knowing how many hours you will be working in a notoriously risky industry?
Lindsey laughed and says “it is a lot of hours and a lot of work. However, we truly have fun while we’re here so it doesn’t always seem like work. We are surrounded by wonderful people, we make new friends every day, drink great wine and eat top notch food prepared by a Michelin trained chef; it doesn’t get much better than that. I have always lived by the adage “work to live, do not live to work” and that remains the case even though we are here more than at home. It’s cliché but true, do what makes you happy and you never work a day in your life”.
Eric adds “You don’t need to wear multiple hats. Just be a good person and do your best at everything you do.” Eric is a farm boy from Montreal who began his days at 4am to take care of the animals before school, began learning the basics of dancing in his basement as an adolescent to taking lessons and practicing 12-15 hours a day to become professionally ranked 5th in Canada and 6th in the US, so is not new to hard work. Lindsey adds, “when Eric wants to learn or do something new, he goes all the way, no short cuts and he is not satisfied until he’s an expert”. “And I found myself a perfect accomplice in Lindsey who not only knows what a hard day’s work is but chooses to live her life with flair and like there is no tomorrow”, adds Eric.
Who is your chef?
We have a wonderful Michelin trained chef Dariusz Szelag. He is originally from Krakow, Poland and attended the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at the Westminster Kingsway College London Victoria where he began working along great chefs including Daniel Galmiche, Jun Tanaka, and Norbert Niederkofler. Before moving to the United States, Dariusz’s career took him all over Europe and the UK where he learned to marry flavors from across many regions. He trained in the 2 Michelin star restaurant, The Vineyard at Stockross, part of Relais & Chateaux, and later as the Pastry chef at the five star and two AA Rosette acclaimed restaurant, The Milestone. In London Dariusz worked alongside Michelin star chefs from across Italy with Prêt à Diner at “Italians do it better”. Having been at the helm of a great concept with Prêt à Diner, he then worked at London’s first pop-up members club in the Royal Academy where he worked alongside Michelin star Chef Ollysan. Additional experience includes being hired as the Senior Chef de Partie at the Coworth Park run by a Dorchester Collection alongside Michelin Star Chef George Kostis, the US Grant Grill Luxury Collection and finally as the executive chef for us. He brings an energy and love to the kitchen and we take care of the hosting.
What has been the biggest challenge in restaurant industry, and how did you overcome it?
Not being a corporate restaurant with deep pockets and a large PR/marketing firm, i.e. “Mom and Pop” it has been challenging to get attention from the media, food critics, and get on the “best of” lists despite our numerous attempts at reaching out to them to come sample our food. Those lists typically feature restaurants that have large advertising budgets and certain PR firms in town.
As far as overcoming it goes, we simply won’t give up. We will keep contacting them about menu changes and events, continuing to do our own PR and social media marketing and talking to everyone who comes in to get our message out there. These efforts are working slowly but surely, we are starting to gain attention, receive “best of” awards in local publications and more personal stories written about us in general, not specifically just the merits of the restaurant.
Could you tell us your best-hidden San Diego gem?
I don’t know if it would qualify as a “hidden gem” but the Old Globe theater is just down the street from us and has amazing production. Also, the people involved are so lovely and gracious. We work with them a lot and do some cross promotions – they suggest us to their members as the restaurant to dine in before the show and we share all their new productions with our guests. We recently catered their yearly “Out Night” and are very excited to be hosting their closing night cast party here this weekend, it will be a blast. I would highly recommend seeing a play there, it’s a wonderful experience.
And finally, if somebody would go to Pardon My French what should they order in your opinion?
It’s hard to say because it all depends on your mood. Our most popular “signature” dishes are the Salade maison, Tarte flambée “Flammekueche” as an hors d’oeuvres; the grilled Duroc pork chop with smoked potato puree, grilled peaches, summer squash and truffle red wine sauce as an entrée, and the Tarte tatin with calvados ice cream and smoked sea salt caramel for dessert. For the chocolate lovers like me, I would recommend the Crémeux au chocolat with homemade honeycomb and whiskey cream, it’s heavenly!
Future plans?
“Oh, there are so many ideas flying around. We started making “Pardon My French…on the go” sandwiches and pastries for the coffee shop Balboa Perk down the street and want to expand on that; we are working on packaging pre-cooked meals for delivery and home preparation. We have even entertained the idea of a retail wine store. We have been asked to open another location but our concern with that is that we fear it may dilute the experience with us being spread too thin. We like to meet everyone who comes in, get to know them, share stories and become friends. That would be much more difficult if we were going back and forth between locations.
PS. They have been nominated for three Nicky Awards so check the out and VOTE:
Outstanding New Business, Outstanding New Restaurant and Outstanding Brunch
Connect with Pardon My French & The Fillions in San Diego:
Call (619) 546–4328 from 10a – 11p daily, or book online with Yelp.
Reservations required for parties of 6 or more.
WEBSITE: Pardon My French Bar & Kitchen
We love to feature entrepreneurial Europeans to the other Europeans and everyone else who shares our love for Europe, its culture and people. Chicago is one of the hubs that has a lot of Europeans.
However, you don’t meet so many Lithuanians – we were thrilled to learn about Vaiva’s business.
Who are you?
My name is Vaiva Grama ,I’m originally from Lithuania and I came to Chicago in 2002 .
What is the name of your business?
Heels And Kitchen
What type of business is that – a cool name?
It’s a Traveling Oyster Bar
What’s the reason for starting?
Well, I always enjoyed cooking from a young age and always looked for interesting ideas to cook and entertain people. I love oysters and most seafood so I thought who doesn’t like fresh oysters and champagne?!! It’s perfect for any occasion from a wedding cocktail hour to a birthday party or any other special occasion you might have or simply just to enjoy fresh oysters.
We also offer a few menus to choose from and we can decorate to suit your theme.
I didn’t want just to be another catering business who brings food and leaves, so we offer the whole experience from discussing the various kinds of oysters and best ways to eat them to having our Oyster Girls mingle around your party while shucking and serving your guest right on The spot. We also offer wonderful entertainment , including our most popular entertainer Noelle. She is an amazing violin player who can make your cocktail hour come to life! Noelle has worked with Jenifer Lopez, Andre Bocelli, Mark Anthony and many other celebrities.
It’s NOT your traditional catering , so if you are looking for something new and unique to wow your guests a Traveling Oyster bar is a way to go.
Where are you located?
We’ll travel anywhere in Chicago and surrounding areas.
Who is your role mode?
I’m trying to be my own role model, and every day try to be better than I was yesterday …. at the end of the day I’m the one who has to live with myself and like myself.
To become our best selves, we first have to be our worst selves. So make your mistakes, and take them in stride; they’re just part of the road map leading to the person you always wished you could be.
How do you define success?
Success is looking back at your life when you are in your last moments and possessing a great amount of pride of your creations, accomplishments and legacy, while having little to no regrets about what you didn’t do and what opportunities you missed out on. if I can die feeling this way, I believe this is success.
What do you miss the most about living in Europe?
I think what I missed the most about living in Europe is a time spent with family and friends. I simply miss those days where I was just baking a bread with my grandma or I was just walking in Old Town with my dad. When you can’t see them anytime you really appreciate the times when you get to.
What is the biggest disappointment in humanity?
My biggest disappointment in humanity is that we find the time to drive an hour to the mall for new shoes or across the country for a wedding dress but seem not to find time to go visit our loved ones who lives near by. We change our priorities and forget a true meaning of life.
What do you want people to know?
I just want say to everyone out there who might be struggling, who might just moved to a new country and don’t have any friends or family or don’t speak the language, I want to say that no matter where life is taking you, try to always look deep inside of your heart and tell yourself I’M GONNA BE OK.
THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER,IT’S UP TO YOU TO FIND A PEARL.
Many of you have asked us to feature some of the volunteers who organize different activities for EuroCircle around the country. Our first “chapter” was started in 1999 in New York City before the Internet fully recognized and accepted as a great media to connect people.
Our current New York team leader Alexandra works for an interactive technology platform www.DilogR.com.
DilogR is great for EuroCircle as we can use it to entertain and educate you all about different topics. We all know that one image can tell you more than 1,000 words so we will actually SHOW you what she does – and you can be part of it too. Take the DilogR powered Europe Quiz (above) to find out one of the fun and engaging ways we plan to use DilogR Platform.
We would love you to share your quizzes like this with us.
Tuesday, Sept 27 is Alex’s birthday so we thought we share a bit more of her life with you.
Interested in learning more about DilogR – check it out!