SIMPLE SIMON SEDUCES THE FRENCH!
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We all know that Simple Simon met a
pie man going to the fair. But did you know that the pie man’s wares are
proving to be so successful in France than oh-so-English tea-house trading
under the name of Simple Simon is proving to be one of the most popular and
fastest growing franchises in the whole of France. The French, famed for making
derogatory remarks about la cuisine anglaise at any available
opportunity, have hardly been able to snap up an enticing assortment of
home-made apple crumbles, bakewell tarts and cream scones quickly enough.
Of course just about the last thing
you would expect to find in the city of Avignon, famed for its Papal Palace and
much sung-about Saint Benezet bridge, is a piping hot cut of tea poured from a
shining silver tea-pot into a piece of bone china Staffordshire crockery. But
then again Avignon as whole can be confusing: many a visitor has been left
wondering what on earth an old fashioned bright-red English phone box is doing
in the heart of the city centre, understandably unaware of the city’s twinning
with the Essex town of Colchester, whose Mayor took it upon himself to hand
over a small but memorable piece of British Telecom hardware as a gesture of
friendship in the best traditions of the Entente Cordiale.
"It’s all a
bit dream-like and unreal here," says Laura Turner, a 20 year old
Devonshire lass currently waitressing at Simple Simon, and kitted out in a
hand-pressed white lace-cotton pinny. "I can’t think of one tea-house like
this in England. The food is delicious though - although couldn’t afford to eat
here myself. In England French things are considered chic: here the opposite is
true - the French go mad about chocolate cake with custard and tea."
Laura Turner
struggles to place Simple Simon in an English context because that context no
longer exists. For nowadays you are as likely to stumble upon ye olde
worlde tea shoppe in Basildon or Barnsley as you are to tuck into steak
and kidney pie in France. And yet Simple Simon’s distinctly retro atmosphere,
with its excess of Victorian oak beams, floral carpeting and interieur
cosy as the restaurant’s own blurb describes it, is devastatingly
effective for that. Established in Avignon over two decades ago by two English
ladies determined to show the French how to make a decent cup of tea, the idea
of developing the franchise was the brainchild of the current proprietaire
Marty Martin. And if you think that name sounds vaguely English you’d be wrong.
For Marty was originally from Luxembourg, although she completed the period of
her formal education in France. Not in catering or tourism, mind you, but
pharmaceutical studies if you please.
"I actually
came to view this place for a friend", she recalls. "But when I saw
Simple Simon it was the coup de foudre - I just loved everything
about it and I still do. Now we are developing the franchise all over France,
with branches in Montpellier, Nimes, Aix, Marseille, Dijon, Lyon and Paris. I
was fed up with the pharmaceutical trade which seemed to me to have become
entirely high-tech and computerised - I feel much more at home here with my
kitchens and cakes than I ever did with prescriptions and pills."
Not too long is
required sipping at your Earl Grey tea before you might be lulled into thinking
that Simple Simon is positively the last outpost of the Empire. For the
restaurant is crammed to bursting point with tea-pots, chutney sauces, Callard
and Bowser toffees and other typically English items and artifacts - you can
even buy a post card of St. Paul’s Cathedral - just what you don’t need in
Avignon. And yet the truth is that Laura Turner aside, there is not another
Brit in sight. In fact the dedicated cook who arrives chez Simple Simon at the
crack of dawn six days a week in order to prepare meat loaf, le poulet au
cheddar, flapjacks, lemon curd tart, trifle and various other
well-known delicacies is well, er, German. Then there is Nicole who prepares
the drinks - she is French. And then there is Esther who does the washing up -
she’s from Mauritius. And strange though it might seem together this unlikely
team manages to exude an atmosphere of quintessential Englishness - right in
the heart of the south of France.
Maybe its the city
of Avignon itself which assists in this subtle and successful marketing ploy.
After all, did it ever once cross your mind that the good people of Avignon
never did dance on the famed Saint-Benezet bridge, only underneath
its arches on the Ile de la Barthelasse?
"I can tell
that Simple Simon isn’t English though," a New Zealander proudly asserts.
"Firstly because I happen to be aware that I am currently on holiday in
France, not England, secondly because of the sunshine outside, and thirdly
because they have allowed that dog in over there, which would have been a
definite no-no in the old country."
Simple Simon’s most
ardent admirers, however, are undoubtedly the French themselves, with
Marie-Paule Flascher and Catherine Lechapon the self-appointed head
cheerleaders and dedicated, lifelong fans.
"We’ve been
coming here for at least 10 years. Its so different from the French steack
frites. The presentation is good - but we both go crazy for the
desserts. We have tasted them all. We particularly love the excellent pudding
which they do during the Christmas season - but all through the year we are
amazed by the taste, variety, service and quality. I think that the food here
must be better than in England. If you go up the road to the Place de l’Horloge
you’ll get fillet au sole - here you can get chicken au
cheddar - which for us local people makes all the difference. We’ll
often arrive at noon and leave three hours later, without getting the feeling
that we have overstayed our welcome."
The Simple Simon
franchise has cleverly turned the one weak point of French gastronomy to its
advantage. For French salons de the are all too often second
rate; and on the rare occasions when they do come up trumps prices are
exorbitant indeed. Nor have French desserts been up to scratch - which is le
crumble is currently all the rage in France.
"I love our
dishes," Marty Martin admits, "even though they are tremendously
fattening. Its difficult to put your finger on what has made us successful. Its
everything together - the atmosphere, the food, the staff, our flexibility, our
originality. We take care of our customers, and with genuine pleasure too. Our
customers are the proof that good old fashioned English cooking can succeed in
France."
They say that the
proof of the pudding is in the eating. Well, just flick through the
restaurant’s leather-bound livret d’or to see what scores of
other customers have had to say. I loved the comment from a Monsieur Lattes of
Nimes. "Cest simple, c’est bon - c’est Simple Simon."
The main Web site of freelance writer Jeremy
Josephs is at www.jeremyjosephs.com Please check there if you might be interested in
engaging him as a writer.
Many of his articles are available online.
Please check the sitemap
for a complete list.