European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse French trying to save the dying cafe wha t does the future hold for this parisian waiter and his cafe chief Kllc Jalc Cirque Incani Sicars Hith Dij 1 pizza Sui Fie assist a Angl air i Sujie a cd to Ninou j f legumes i a amps Peter Jaeger by Patrick Mcdowell the associated press the French cafe that Haven and debating club for generations of students workers poets and painters is losing a Battle with modern life. Fast food television and vending machines Are Chipping away at an institution As Central to French a tradition As freshly baked bread. Before world War i France had 510000 cafes. Now the number is 180,000 and declining by about 3 percent a year according to Industry figures. Quot people have less and less need for us Quot said Robert Henry who leads a Campaign to revive the cafe s fortunes in an age when few people have time to. Philosophize at a sidewalk table. He Heads the cafe Section of the National Union of restaurateurs cafe keepers and hoteliers. In february it held a special convention intended to help cafes compete with new rivals. Henry said these Range from comfortable apartment with Vars to hamburger joints a anything that entices people to stay Home or eat and drink elsewhere. Quot in the big towns we have multifaceted Competition Quot he said. Quot the biggest is fast food amp i Mcdonald s has opened 146 restaurants in France in 11 years 36 of them in 1990, said company spokesman Jean Francois cancel. The . Chain appeals to families with Young children while Many cafes Are unofficial men s clubs. Quot we have to stress our strongest Point our. Conviviality Quot Henry said Quot and realize that the taste of our customers has Coffee consumption remains As High As Ever in the cafes he said but sales of Beer have fallen and Many people prefer hamburgers to the bistros toasted Ham and cheese recent years cafes have expanded menus added soft drinks and installed pinball machines in an Effort to. Lure customers Backi Quot the cafe Industry is in something of a crisis Quot said Jean Francois Pecaut of coca cola s French operations. Quot they have been obliged by their customers to sell More -products.&Quot. A a a a a a. A \. A some people say the cafe declined because too much modernization killed a unique ambiance of cups clattering on Metal bars smokers flicking ashes on the floor and Bow tied waiters sweeping up change. Quot about 30 years ago they All started looking the same Quot said Alain Daniel a University teacher who. Detests the decision by Many cafe keepers to install Formica bars. Quot you go to a Bistro first of All to have an atmosphere Quot he said. Quot now the atmosphere has disappeared. It s All. Easy to clean functional and a fast food restaurants might be regarded the same Way but have their advantages said Monique cer Faud a nurse. Quot when i have to meet someone i prefer to do it at Quick she said referring to a French hamburger Chain. Quot at Quick they have whatever its problems the cafe lives. Millions still depend on it for morning cafe an Lait and croissants. Quot someone who owns a Well located cafe can retire in his 40s,&Quot said Pecaut who is trying to increase coca cola s cafe sales. Quot you can make a lot of 6 stripes Magazine March 21, 1991. Most closures have been in the Countryside Small towns and decaying City neighbourhoods Henry said and fewer new ones Are opening. A modern High Rise is More Likely to have a gym for residents than a cafe. The left Bank of Paris remains the Temple of the cafe. Images of novelists Ernest Hemingway and f Scott Fitzgerald carousing on the Boulevard St. Germain still dance in the Heads of countless tourists. Famous left Bank cafes seem impervious to the Industry s woes. At Les Deus magots a haunt of Jean Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso two wooden chinese. Statues peer impassively at customers who pay 19 francs $4 for a Coffee. Around the Corner however workmen gut one More nondescript cafe that went out of business. A sign proclaims that it soon will Bea pizza pasta Chain outlet. Henry Hopes salvation can be found in attracting talented people to the Trade. Last summer Henry s Union and educational authorities introduced Tho first professional licensing course for cafe workers. / students who enrol in the two year program must master a foreign language and the geography of French wine regions. In addition to learning the proper Way to Load an espresso machine they Are Given rudimentary business training. France and cafes have had a Long close relation. Cafes have been the social centers of villages and City neighbourhoods places of Welcome where one could have an easy word with waiters neighbors or friends. France s first cafe the Procope began serving bitter turkish Coffee on the left Bank in 1689. It was renovated recently. A Quot a a in the 19th Century the Rich Urban Middle classes showed off their wealth in ornate cafes while humbler ones saw to the needs of everyone else. By the turn of the Century the cafe had become a Public living room where a starving artist could leave his Garret and pass an evening for the Price of a drink. Quot i grew up in a Garrison town with 1,400 people. We had 42 cafes Quot said Guy Ibert a Paris businessman. Quot the custom was that after Church or a funeral everybody would go to the . The army is gone from the town and the Young people fled to the cities Ibert said. Only one cafe remains and its survival is precarious. A. A a Quot a Village without a cafe is dead Quot he said
