French Food Fights Back
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A pair of young French food organizations are taking on a battle of honor—and sales. Their goal: to restore French cuisine’s lost dominance on the global food scene, and to show the world that France is producing innovative chefs and fun, affordable places to eat.
After seeing top chefs from Spain, the U.S. and even Denmark overtake French ones on influential “best restaurant” lists as well as French restaurants in New York City shutter and sales of French wine plummet in this country, Omnivore and Le Fooding are publishing guide books that highlight a new generation of chefs in France and holding high-profile food festivals that attract top chefs.
Omnivore and Le Fooding are getting sponsorship from some of France’s biggest food and drink companies, which stand to gain by restoring French cuisine’s lost luster. The two groups were founded by journalists to rally against the mainstream culinary press, which they felt gave all the attention to expensive, overly formal restaurants that focused on luxurious décor. In other words, restaurants out of touch with today’s diner.
