Coffee Shop. Photo taken by Valerie Larsen (3/23/25)
Alumni of Dickinson College are everywhere you go, and lucky for us, Paul Bouvet (class of 2014) was right around the corner in Paris, France. Paul has been in the restaurant industry most of his life but most recently, he is the director of Laduree – an upscale patisserie specializing in macarons. Having a conversation over coffee with Paul this Sunday afternoon provided us as students with the perfect opportunity to understand sustainability within the context of restaurants and bakeries in France! I got an extremely thick hot chocolate, it was rich and creamy. The price was 10 Euros, which I would not pay on a normal day, but it was fantastic regardless.
Paul was born in France but moved to Lancaster, PA when he was 13. He graduated from Dickinson College with a degree in International Business and Affairs and Russian. Working his way up from server to director of a restaurant in Lancaster, this is where he harnessed his skills for business management. Despite success in the US, Paul decided to move back to France and build his expertise in the technical skills required for French fine dining. Through schooling and working at several fine dining restaurants in France, he says he is happy where he is today at the Laduree and plans to stay there for a good while.
Earlier that day, before meeting up with Paul, we traveled to 3 different markets in Paris. Sustainability in France seems to be deeply ingrained into the culture, with a heavy emphasis on eating locally and with the seasons. This is apparent when observing the crowds of people at markets. At the same time, it became noticeable that many of the markets sold products that were not locally grown, such as out-of-season fruits. One market vendor in Paris said over 70% of the produce in the market is imported.
It was interesting to hear Paul’s take on locality and seasonality in Paris and the greater restaurant industry. He expressed how Paris is very similar to New York, people come from everywhere and want access to everything. It can be hard for the markets in Paris to heavily support locality and seasonality when there is such a
demand for produce that is not in the harvest, along with the fact that local agricultural production is not as accessible in the city. This is also reflected in the restaurants available in Paris. In my personal experience, while in Paris, I have eaten everything from Moroccan to Greek all within the last few days. Paul did mention that within fine dining restaurants that I’m assuming are more “traditionally French,” cooking locally seasonally and overall more sustainable can be easier because staying alive financially is not a problem.
Fine dining in general, Paul expressed, has more leeway with the decisions they make. Often, fine dining restaurants can be “disrupters” in the context of not just sustainability but also ethical working environments. Working in the restaurant industry can be toxic. When restaurants are not struggling financially, they can build better working environments. To me, overall, it sounded like sustainability and a non-toxic working environment can be born out of the privilege of the restaurant’s finances.
When Paul was asked about mass production and quality within the pastry industry, we got on to a conversation topic of croissants. I was personally curious as to how France keeps the costs of croissants down to 2 Euros while in the US, croissants are often $5-6. According to Paul, bakeries that sell croissants are likely to not produce them themselves. In France, there are large croissant producers that make them, freeze them, and sell them to bakeries. Costs can be low because they are mass-produced efficiently. Further, croissants are more popular in France, and so is the equipment and knowledge of how to make them- which also keeps costs low. On the contrary, American doughnuts are quite expensive in France in comparison to the $1 doughnuts you can get in America. The quality of mass-produced croissants was not covered by Paul.
As we were all siping from the last of our coffees and hot chocolates, we merged to the topic of flavor and cooking in France. In my experience, I have found much of French cuisine to be lightly seasoned. We asked Paul his personal opinion on flavoring here vs. in the US. Paul mentioned how gastronomic restaurants use very little flavor and that many chefs say only 3 ingredients should be used for one cooked item. For example, the flavor of a carrot should mainly be appreciated for the flavor it is. In comparison, french chefs often claim that the US puts too many condiments and unnecessary flavors in a dish. He went on to express how MSG, for example, isn’t bad for you, but disrupts your pallet, pushing you to overseason meals because everything else in comparison tastes flavorless. There is something to say about appreciating fruits and veggies for the flavor it is!
Overall it was insightful to meet with Paul Bouvet and hear a sneak peek into the restaurant and bakery world in France!
Hot Chocolate. Photo taken by Valerie Larsen. 3/23/25
