The Bronx in Paris

1992, Rollei TLR, TMY

Now what other borough gets a store named after it in the center of Paris? Do you think people from the Bronx opened this burger joint? I wish I had gone in there, but I didn’t.

The outdoor menu says: THE BRONX
(Salle au Sous-sol)
Salade Composée 18f
Poulet Frites 25f
Steack Frites 24f
Croque-Monsiur 16f, Pizza 30F
Hamburgers 38f
Plat du Jour 40f

The Plat du Jour is: Quenelles de brochet

“A quenelle is mixture of creamed fish, chicken, or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding. It is usually poached. Formerly, quenelles were often used as a garnish in haute cuisine; today, they are usually served on their own. Quenelle may also refer to a food item made into an oval or egg shape, such as ice cream, sorbet, or mashed potato quenelles. This usage derives from the original shape of the egg-and-meat quenelle.”

Definitely not something eaten in the Bronx, unless they’re talking about potato pancakes in the form of an oval.

Lyon and Nantua are famous for their quenelles de brochet (mousseline) (pike quenelles), often served with cream sauce and run under the salamander grill. Pike has many small bones, so passing it through a tamis is an expeditious way of removing them.

A few years ago, after thinking about my identity, I came to the conclusion that I saw myself as a Bronx kid. Obviously, not a kid anymore, but deep-down, I still see myself as a kid from the Bronx. That’s how I identify myself to myself. And around that time, I went back to my old haunts, and photographed them. I spent about two years going back to the Bronx for two years, looking for places that had meaning to me; physical places, buildings, streets, the old school, the apartment on University Avenue, that could evoke memories just by standing near them; or touching them.

I did as many interviews as I could with people who were still living there, or with family members who were brought up in the Bronx. And the idea was that someday I would do a book, part memoir, part picture book with this material. So now, just as the Paris shots sat for years without being seriously looked at, I have at least as much, or more of Bronx memories. I posted a few of them, at one point, but since none of them sold, I removed them. In the meantime, the site has grown up, and out, and I can see that the time will come soon to put together the Bronx collection. I’d love to use this shot as the opening title shot.