Vienne is an old Roman town south of Lyon, known to food lovers as the home of the original Michelin three-star restaurant, La Pyramide, which was owned by Paul Bocuse's mentor Fernand Point and remains to this day one of the temples of French gastronomy.
From Vienne, in any event, comes young Virginie Blackmoor, a teacher by training and temperament. While working in London she married a British-American performance artist named Daniel. They soon moved to Seattle, where Daniel and a few pals set up the Blackmoor Traveling Picture Show and began playing gigs at the Columbia City Theater and other venues around town. Virginie, for her part, has started playing with the notion of the French as a little bit sophisticated and a little bit naughty. Cute, but serious, too.
From her apartment in Madison Park, she now runs a business, "French Truly," that offers language classes and cultural immersion. She has wisely enlisted the support of Seattle's best-known Frenchman, Thierry Rautureau ("The Chef in the Hat"), who has made his charming restaurant, Luc, available to Virginie before he opens for dinner.
(Parenthetical note in lieu of a photo caption: Virginie's breakfast at Healeo, a vegan health food bar & supplements shop across from the Bullitt Center on E. Madison, bears no relation to the food at Luc, none.)
Virginie is the second Frenchwoman to plant the tricolor on Capitol Hill this year. Muriel Fouchet, a Parisienne launched a French boutique and cooking classes just off Broadway earlier this year. Perhaps, a decade after "Freedom Fries," we're ready to renounce Francophobia and start loving the French again. The return of La Vie en Rose! Ya think?
French Truly is offering a free orientation session at Luc on Sunday, June 2nd, at 10 AM. Sign up here.
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