It’s an uncharacteristically wet and grey day in Rome, and I’m standing outside Le Carré Français (The French Quarter) just off Piazza Cavour. An extensive display of French patisserie sits in the window. Passers-by stop to eyeball the array: pastries and tartlets filled with creme patisserie;, flavored with lemon; jeweled with raspberries; and scattered with spirals of dark chocolate. I’m enticed inside to find out what else awaits behind the doors of Rome’s first bistro, patisserie, bakery, butchers, and all-round immersive French experience.
Inside, sleek metal signs with stenciled and stamped out lettering guide you around the concept store section by section, from boulangerie to cave a vins. Sculptured light fittings with exposed bulbs hang from the ceiling, illuminating the naked brickwork of the feature walls. At Le Carré Français, the mood is refined and elegant, and does justice to their discerning selection of authentic French food and products. Sit at the bar with a coffee and spend a little time taking in the art deco design influences. Walk around the store and you’ll see it’s composed of all the shops you’d traditionally find in a French village.
At the butchers, the fridges are stocked with meat from the Polmard prestigious family firm of cattle breeders. You might recognize the name, as their specific methods of raising cattle produce some of the most expensive beef in the world. Polmard raises only Blonde Aquitaine cows in small groups of 180 at a time. The meat itself is matured in a unique process known as ‘hibernation’, where it’s frozen at -43°C with an air force of 4m per second. After, it is stored at a temperature of -120°C under liquid nitrogen…. technical stuff. According to Polmard, unlike traditional freezing, ‘hibernation’ doesn’t alter the taste, tenderness, or juiciness of the meat, but allows it to be kept for a much longer period of time with no loss of quality.
At the bakery, you can pick up fresh breads made by the bakers who arrive on site at 4am each day. Of course, the flour comes direct from the French mill of a seventh generation artisan miller, Alexandre Viron. A classic 300g French baguette takes six hours to make on site and costs a reasonable €1.50.
More than 1000 French products are waiting for you at the grocery store .
To accompany French bread, you need a little cheese and maybe a glass of wine. Browse through the store and dip into the vast selection of quintessential delicacies from the French kitchen table. With over 1000 products on sale; from foie gras to ready made crustacean soup; you’ll be able to recreate your own French experience at home.
If you decide to stay in the French atmosphere and order from the bistro menu, the choice is rather meat based. No bad thing; especially if various cuts of Polmard beef are on offer. Other options include duck fillet with potato puree, beef bourguignon, and venison steak flavored with myrtle (a juniper-like plant). Lighter alternatives include salad with goat cheese crostini, ratatouille Provençale, and a handful of soups. Fresh vegetables for these courses come from the farmer’s market in Garbatella, just across town.
Le Carré Français is the creation of Frenchman and businessman Jildaz Mahé who had the idea to create ‘a culinary French embassy’ back in 2012. Working as editor of a digital magazine, he came into contact with top artisans, chefs, and food producers. Realizing the knowledge and skills of those around him, he proposed to form and lead a group to distribute the finest French gastronomy overseas. Mahé admits the project was not an easy one; but listening to him talk, you get the sense his determination would have always brought him success.
“I told them if you come to me, then my problem is to find the place, find the opportunity, and find the team. I wanted them as shareholders, not as furniture. I wanted people with a voice. I told them they must believe in the project long term.”
Joining Mahé are five French artisans considered amongst the best in their fields: pastry chef Michel Galloyer, butcher Alexandre Polmard, wine expert Axel Rondouin, miller Alexandre Viron, and baker Jean-Noël Julien. Mahé explains how he and his team of renowned names from the French food world moved forward with his proposal.
“So now we’ve got the best of the French artisans who gave me the money on trust, a hand contract… the money I came to Rome (with) one year ago. Why Rome? Because Rome has the three marketing keys we are looking for.
“First, you must be in a city with Francophilia. People here visit France, people study French, people have got shared DNA with France. So there is this French presence in Rome.”
As well as natives with an interest in all things French, Mahè was looking for a location with a large French community. 30,000 French people living in Rome meant his second marketing criteria was fulfilled. The third and final criteria was creating the first project of this kind in the area.
Mahé summarizes these years of work with neat business-like talk, and speaks plainly about why he switched into the food industry.
“I did it because it was a target, because I am a manager, I am 43-years-old and created my first company at 21. I consider that the only French know-how is food. We have very good farmers, brilliant bakers, and all these people live very well because they have a passion. So it’s normal to get something very good at a good price. However, I found it was not normal to export it. There was no strategic point of export or a point of distribution; there was no manager who did this before.”
From conception to realization, Mahé has labored determinedly to deliver quality gastronomy and create a corner of France here in Rome. With such commitment, it’s hard to see how you could fail to be impressed with Le Carré Français.
