Baker Bob

Until a decade ago, Americans opening up their own restaurants in Paris was unthinkable. Now, chefs from New York, Chicago, and Seattle are behind some of the city’s most hyped, hardest-to-get-into establishments. Take New York native Marc Grossman, the man who created a mini-empire with the wildly popular Bob’s Kitchen and Bob’s Cold Press where he’s been coined the city’s juicing kingpin, who opened these health inspired eateries with an American style of eating that is relatively novel in Paris. Recently, Grossman has added a bakery to the company’s roster as Bob’s Bake Shop extends the winning formula to baked goods- bagels in particular.

The excellent coffee may be locally produced, but the shop channels the same American vibe as its sister venues and everything, from the pecan, lattice-topped cherry or rhubarb pies, to the hand rolled bagels and bialys, are authentically baked on-site. Grossman has been living in Paris for 14 years – he married a French woman after all- and recently published his fifth cookbook, New York Cult Recipes which is part cookbook, part travel guide. His book grew out of his past food experiences in New York, and ironically he feels that being an expat has made him more of a New Yorker than when he actually lived there. But that’s where the nostalgia stops. He loves living in France where it gives him more balance in his life as opposed to the frantic pace New York demands of its dwellers. His favorite recipe is for challah, which he describe’s as NY’s answer to the brioche. I’ll take everything please. Merci. www.bobsjuicebar.com