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rachelw28's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining and interesting subject matter but nothing spectacular.
derekerb's review against another edition
5.0
The true story of the best, and first, diner in Paris
What a pleasure this book was! The story is wonderful, heartfelt and amazing. I've been living in France for over 30 years, having left America in 1983. Not only are there many parallels in this story but I can vouch for just about every fact of French life looked at though the eyes of an American. It's the kind of book that feels like you've just sat down at a bar, for drinks, with a guy who honestly tells the story of his life with all the good and bad and just makes you want to hear more. I recommend this book to EVERYONE.
Disclaimer: I now live about 50 metres from Breakfast in America and am a happy and proud regular customer. I have yet to say "Hi" to Craig and I don't drink the sock juice... but my (French) wife loves the stuff! This place is the real deal!
What a pleasure this book was! The story is wonderful, heartfelt and amazing. I've been living in France for over 30 years, having left America in 1983. Not only are there many parallels in this story but I can vouch for just about every fact of French life looked at though the eyes of an American. It's the kind of book that feels like you've just sat down at a bar, for drinks, with a guy who honestly tells the story of his life with all the good and bad and just makes you want to hear more. I recommend this book to EVERYONE.
Disclaimer: I now live about 50 metres from Breakfast in America and am a happy and proud regular customer. I have yet to say "Hi" to Craig and I don't drink the sock juice... but my (French) wife loves the stuff! This place is the real deal!
mysta's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who works in the hospitality industry I’m always on the lookout for books related to it and this memoir from Craig Carlson, Pancakes in Paris - about how he came to open an American style diner in France, was a charmer! I’m not a Francophile by any stretch of the imagination (though I did love that he called his pet Balzac) so the affinity for me with this story was all the nonsense he had to put up with: staffing, labor laws, physical plant issues, supply problems, colorful guests, even more colorful ex-employees...
There’s a phrase we use in the hotel business that’s actually a book title but it sums up what it’s like to work in this industry perfectly: “Don’t Stop The Carnival” and it 100% applies here.
Overall, even if you’re not a part of that world, you’ll enjoy this and find it very inspirational and heartwarming in that Carlson came from literally almost nothing and bootstrapped his way to success, but even better is that his success was also his dream, as far-fetched as it first sounded and he did it all with love. It’s really a story about people, friendships, loyalty, and perseverance.
You’ll root for this guy the whole way through, crave a dish from an American style diner, check out the images and reviews of his Breakfast in America diners on TripAdvisor, and make a note to stop in one when you’re next in Paris!
There’s a phrase we use in the hotel business that’s actually a book title but it sums up what it’s like to work in this industry perfectly: “Don’t Stop The Carnival” and it 100% applies here.
Overall, even if you’re not a part of that world, you’ll enjoy this and find it very inspirational and heartwarming in that Carlson came from literally almost nothing and bootstrapped his way to success, but even better is that his success was also his dream, as far-fetched as it first sounded and he did it all with love. It’s really a story about people, friendships, loyalty, and perseverance.
You’ll root for this guy the whole way through, crave a dish from an American style diner, check out the images and reviews of his Breakfast in America diners on TripAdvisor, and make a note to stop in one when you’re next in Paris!
brianwikene's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author's journey to France was not a straight line - and that was amazing. His vulnerability with his business and his love life was refreshing.
adinatantalo's review against another edition
4.0
I had randomly chose this to listen to because it’s included with audible plus, but I’m so happy I stumbled upon it! It’s a quick and easy read that takes you through the author’s childhood traumas, his journey to discovering his love of France, the origin of his dream of opening an American diner in Paris, and his trials and tribulations of maintaining a restaurant in Paris. French labor laws are unbelievable. However, despite all the craziness, it’s a feel good memoir that ended on a poignant note and has me desperately wanting to spend more time in Paris.
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
Carlson's dream was simple: move to Paris. Following a semi-successful run at Hollywood, he made that dream come true—but through an American-style diner rather than through anything to do with Hollywood.
This is light, breezy; it's focused far more on getting the diner up and running than it is on living in Paris. Carlson seems to have made quite a go at both, but he remained firmly an expat, perhaps due largely to the fact that the premise of his business was something very non-Parisian. I could have done with a little more Paris, but then, there are other books for that, and Carlson's experience seems to have been relatively unique. (I'm reading [book:My (Part-Time) Paris Life|28220799] now, though, and I did snicker when Anselmo bemoaned the new popularity of American-style diners in Paris...)
I struggle sometimes to relate to the specificities of the dream—like, why go to one place to focus on something so particular to the place you came from?—but that's really not the point, is it? The point is that he made his dream happen.
This is light, breezy; it's focused far more on getting the diner up and running than it is on living in Paris. Carlson seems to have made quite a go at both, but he remained firmly an expat, perhaps due largely to the fact that the premise of his business was something very non-Parisian. I could have done with a little more Paris, but then, there are other books for that, and Carlson's experience seems to have been relatively unique. (I'm reading [book:My (Part-Time) Paris Life|28220799] now, though, and I did snicker when Anselmo bemoaned the new popularity of American-style diners in Paris...)
I struggle sometimes to relate to the specificities of the dream—like, why go to one place to focus on something so particular to the place you came from?—but that's really not the point, is it? The point is that he made his dream happen.