This was indeed one of the most unusual interviews that I‘ve conducted.

These authors are as ethnically diverse as the food and cultures they write about.
Charlotte Puckett hails from Charleston, South Carolina and we met at a Saint Germain café while Olivia Snaije from Alexandria, Egypt of Chinese and American parents connected by telephone from London.

We wrapped up this 3-way conversation in Paris at the Café de la Place on the Blvd. Edgar Quinet.

TG: When did you first go to Paris?

OS: In 1971-73 I moved to Paris and was in 8eme and 9eme at the Ecole Active Bilingue. I hated it. My first day in class I raised my hand to ask a question and the teacher said “debrouilles toi ma vieille”.  I lived first on the Ile St. Louis (and believe me, it WAS NOT CHIC although I did see Klaus Kinski walking around all the time with a Vietnamese girlfriend). I then lived on the rue des Fosses St. Bernard in the 5th—at that time of course the IMA did not exist and I was often caught in manifs from Jussieu students every time I came home from school, lots of tear gas etc. The metros were still dark red and green and there was still first and second-class.

CP: I first visited Paris when I was 16.

TG: When and why did you come back to stay?
OS:  I came back in 1975 and did 1ere in French school system again. My mother was still living in Paris, at this point at the Cite des Arts in the 4th, and then I went on to do a first year at the American University in Paris. I waitressed and shared an apartment with a friend on the rue Frederic Sauton in the 5th above a movie theatre which is now Al Dar restaurant.
CP: I had been living in East Africa – in Entebbe Uganda working for several years – under pretty stressful and basic conditions – I swore that if I got through it I would take a break in Paris before returning to the states – so that’s what I did – arriving in the fall of 1990 and I have been here ever since.

TG:Where do you live (arrondissement?
OS: I have lived in the 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th and 18th.  I now live in London but we have kept our place in the 14th.
My favorite arrondissement:  I moved to the 18th to be on the Butte de Montmartre but also because it was cheaper. I still consider this to be MY neighborhood because it is the one I loved the most and lived in the longest. Most of my friends still live in the 18th. There’s a bit of everything for everyone in the 18th.  When I move back to Paris it will be to the 18th.

CP: I first lived on Rue Caire in the 4th – I think it in the 4th – right off of rue St. Denis – it was very lively. It was the first place I found – it has been now cleaned up, but when I lived there it was a pretty cheesy neighborhood – not violent – but with a prostitute in every doorway – you couldn’t say it was typical – I rather liked it.

TG: What’s your favorite café?
OS:I have lots. I always meet a friend of mine, Beatrix at the Select and we love to watch people. I like the Café de la Place in the 14th at Metro Edgar Quinet. There are too many. It just depends what neighborhood you’ve most recently lived in.
CP: I live near the Ecole Militaire and there are a lot of big, noisy cafes with chairs spilling out onto the sidewalk all year long – I don’t have lots of time for café hanging but when I do I go to the Terrace.

TG:What’s your favorite wine?
OS: I always like a good glass of Brouilly but I enjoy tasting the different red wines that are open in cafes that serve good wine.
CP: Anything from the South – they are full of sunshine. If I am lucky I have wine that I have picked up down in the South of France – there are so many small vineyards down there selling fantastic wine at incredibly reasonable prices – wines you will never find up here – I buy a couple of cases and bring them up here – but they go pretty quickly – so then I drink whatever was not too expensive in the local wine store – there are so many great wines in France for around 10 euros (and less!)

TG: What’s your favorite starred restaurant?
OS: Don’t have one but my favorite “French” restaurant is La Cerisaie, Bd. Edgar Quinet
CP: When I was just out of cooking school I made all the rounds, but over the years my taste have changed, the type of food I like to cook changed and I wandered away from that type of restaurant – so I would guess that the last starred restaurant I went to was Pierre Gagnaire and even if I wasn’t that would be the one I would want to go to again – it was so over the top..

What’s your favorite bistro du coin?
OS: Le Nord Sud, metro Jules Joffrin (18th)
CP: My favorite corner bistro would be someplace ethnic – I spend a lot of time in the 13th  food shopping, no matter what time a day it is I can always get Pho at  – Pho 14, 129 ave de Choisy – it is small, noisy and fast. When I go out with friends the first place I suggest is Feyrouz Cote Mer, 10 ave Lourmel in the 15th – It’s near my home and I just love the ambiance and the food.

I guess some people like the idea of the homey comfort of a corner bistro – I like the idea that I can take a little visit to another country without leaving my neighborhood – that might sound corny but its true!

TG: What’s your favorite market?
OS: Aligre, and the one in front of the Mairie du 14eme—it’s small, with very few stalls but the ones that are there are great. The fruit and vegetable family on the corner sells wildflowers from their garden. There’s also an incredible florist whose choice of flowers and colors takes your breath away.
CP: I like them all!  I am always curious to see what’s available – the market up around Chateau Rouge that caters to the African community is a great place to poke around and make new discoveries.  I had such a great time testing the dishes for the Ethnic Paris Cookbook and getting to use lots of ingredients I don’t normally cook with….like pepe nuts and djansen seeds from Cameroon  that I found in the stores around there.  The marche d’Aligre in the 12th is also a lot of fun. I was there last weekend and bought a wonderful Olive oil from Algeria.

TG: What’s your favorite park or garden?
OS: La Turlure behind the Sacre Coeur because I spent hours in the sand pit there and met some of my closest friends there. (It’s hidden, tourists usually can’t find it.) I also love the gardens in the Palais Royal
CP: The garden of the Rodin museum.

TG: What is your favorite time of year?
OS: September
CP: Everything about the Fall is exciting in Paris – its
the rentre after the grand vacances – so all of a sudden every one is about and in good moods – children
start school, restaurants and business open back up –
everything seems fresh and there is this sense of new
beginnings – the weather is great and slowly all this
wonderful produce starts to come into the markets –
mushrooms, chestnuts, game, pumpkins, scallops – I
love all the fresh green produce and fruit of spring
and summer – and especially the  ease of summer
cooking – but as the weather turns cooler i want cook
dishes that require long simmers and have rich flavors
and invite all my friends over for long sunday
lunches.

TG: How has Paris affected your work?
OS:  Things take longer, you have to be more patient and put more effort into personal relations.  Don’t assume people will do things because it’s their job to do it. If they don’t want to they won’t. You do something because you like doing it, not for the money.
CP: I think I am so incredibly lucky to be cooking in Paris –

TG: How has Paris affected your life?
OS: When you live in Paris vs. the US there are lots of things that are non-issues. People make personal decisions on their own without some sort of social consensus.  People are far less “politically correct” than in the US. I think in Paris one is more free because social constraints are far less evident (people are less religious, they don’t care if you’re married, you could have 5 different children with 5 different men and it wouldn’t be a big deal) unless you live within the tiny minority of uber Catholic types.
CP: Ou la la – where to begin that tale……