France Comes to Texas

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As a little girl growing up in Dallas, I went on a myriad of school field trips: A tour of the then-new Dallas-Ft. Worth airport including a peek in the American Airlines flight school cockpit simulator. A visit to the Mrs. Baird’s bread factory where we saw food manufacturing at its finest and were given a huge slab of blindingly white bread piping hot and slathered with butter. Trips to the Dallas Museum of Art (then the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts) at Fairpark with Frederic Church’s Icebergs painting standing watch at the entrance. Outings to Dallas Opera rehearsal performances where one coughing student could set off an epidemic of copycats and put a temporary stop to the theatrical proceedings. But my favorite off-campus excursions involved trips abroad—by way of Neiman-Marcus Fortnights.

Neiman-Marcus Fortnight 1957
Neiman-Marcus Fortnight 1957

In 1957, the legendary Dallas-based department store introduced the Fortnight concept and brought France to Texas. The two-week extravaganza transformed the downtown store into a French cultural, artistic, epicurean, fashion, shopping, and performance experience that made France real to scores of Dallasites, tourists and students. I wasn’t born yet so missed the inaugural festivities with a famous visit by Coco Chanel. However, over the nearly three decades of annual fall Fortnights that followed, I ‘toured the world,’ including France, courtesy of Neiman-Marcus.

When global travel became more common and the concept ran its course, the Dallas Fortnights ended. Happily, I can still find France in Dallas in many different guises—and these French experiences aren’t limited to two weeks. Here are some of my favorite offerings:

French flavors, food & wine: I get my Mariage frères tea fixes at The Cultured Cup in Preston Center. The thé vert Provence (Provence green tea) is not to be missed. The Travis Walk restaurant L’Ancestral is my favorite for classic recipes including their French onion soup. For a southern French meal, Le Lavendou in north Dallas hits the spot. Other French restaurants of note include Cadot, Toulouse and Rise No.1.

For authentic French cheeses, I head to Molto Formaggio in Highland Park Village and Scardello Cheese on Oak Lawn. True French sweets and pastries come from Rush Pâtisserie near the Bishop Arts District. Pastry chef Samantha Rush makes real croissants and pain au chocolat, along with tarts, cakes and almond macaroons. Her seasonal treats include les bûches de Noël and les galettes des rois (king’s cakes).

Macaroon

For an outstanding selection of French wines, I visit La Cave Wine Warehouse where owners François and Anne Chandou always recommend the right wine for the right occasion. Their twice-monthly Saturday wine tastings are as fun as they are informative. And I like to stop by Calais Winery in Deep Ellum to enjoy a glass of wine and a good chat with French winemaker Benjamin Calais. While he is a New World entrepreneur, his passion for winemaking is a time-honored French tradition. Finally, France is always in my kitchen via my collection of white French Apilco porcelain. It dresses up or down, and my occasional browsings at Williams-Sonoma culinary stores never fail to turn up an additional interesting piece or two.

For more France in Dallas, we’ll continue with some fabulous French art, antiques and fashion sources in a future French Affaires Weekly posting—restez en ligne (stay tuned)!

French Take-Out ~ La France à emporter ™

This fall, we’re excited to have a “part of France” joining the French Affaires team. We welcome our new Special Events intern, Anne-Lyse Ségur, who comes to Dallas from southwest France. Look for her at upcoming French Affaires events–she brings a wealth of enthusiasm and passion for things French!

“My name is Anne-Lyse, and I grew up in a small town called Lavaur, situated in the ‘pays de Cocagne’ (region of Cocagne) in southwest France. It was the territory of the Cathars and the Crusades in the 13th century, and this region became the land of plenty and abundance thanks of the cultivation of a plant “the pastello” (“Blue Gold”) for over 300 years.

I went to business School in the town of Pau and have a masters degree in business, specializing in entrepreneurship. I studied in Australia and Brazil, and I took the opportunity to move to Dallas last year. In addition to interning for French Affaires, I work for a beverage supplier and enjoy travel, restaurants, flag football and tennis as hobbies.

I am having a great time in Dallas–there are so many great foods and restaurants specially Italian and Mexican. I especially enjoy the warm and friendly people, their greetings, their positive attitude and their craziness about American football! But I miss the Saturday markets in France where you find fresh regional products all year long. I also miss walking in the countryside and in the small villages, where you can stop at the bank, pharmacy and get a baguette, cheese, flowers and newspapers by parking your car just one time.

I have to admit that I can’t wait to have again some homemade foie gras and charcuterie, but fortunately, Nutella crepes can be made everywhere–I can’t resist them!”

Anne Lyse

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