FRANCE

CONTINENTAL DRIFTER
An Indian feast in France
by Elliott Hester
click on photo for enlargement

When it comes to culinary offerings, few cities are as palatable as Paris. Here in the City of Light, I’ve feasted on delectables such as Steak Tartar and Duck L’orange in a belly-boggling array of French restaurants.

Dining out in Paris can be an expensive endeavor, however. In an effort to balance my budget and satisfy my pallet simultaneously, I frequent a tiny pedestrian lane lined with decidedly non-French restaurants.

Few tourists venture here because it’s located in a working-class neighborhood. Locals pass by every day and miss it when they blink. But when I found my way onto “Passage Brady”, a tumbledown 19th-century shopping arcade, I stumbled upon the most affordable lunches in Paris. In the process, I stepped into another world.

Passage Brady boasts the city’s highest concentration of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. Twelve culinary establishments populate this narrow Passage that runs between Blvd. de Strasbourg and Rue St. Denis in the 10th Arrondissement (District).

When I stepped onto Passage Brady, it was as if I had fallen through a rabbit hole and landed in Delhi or Mumbai. Apart from the restaurant menus, which are written in French (with English translations), there is little to remind you of Paris.

Built in 1858 so that shoppers could stroll from one boutique to the next without succumbing to rain and muddy unpaved streets, this pedestrian mall features a 1-block-long, 2-story-high vaulted glass roof. Some 150 passages were constructed in Paris during the 19th century. Many have been refurbished to accommodate designer boutiques and loft-style apartments. Some, like Passage Brady, have fallen to neglect.

The glass roof is cracked in places. The tiled floor is worn and broken. At Pooja and Jardin De L’inde, two of the busiest restaurants, alfresco diners stare into the dusty window of a hardware store.

And yet, it’s the ramshackle disposition of Passage Brady that provides warmth and charm.

Lanterns dangle from the rusted crossbeams. Indian music drifts from one of four coiffure shops where haircuts are a bargain at €6 euros. At Velan Sari, shoppers pore over Indian knickknacks, colorful saris, and more than 100 types of incense. They cram the aisles, searching for mango chutney, tandoori paste, coriander seeds, pomegranate molasses—every imaginable product which to make home-cooked Indian food.

Restaurant signs jut out from above darkened doorways, beckoning passersby. Reine Du Kashmir. Passage De Pondichér. Shalimar. The names evoke the spirit of India and Pakistan as much as Passage Brady itself.

Lunchtime customers feast on lamb or chicken curry specials for only €5 euros ($6.35). Because proprietors compete fiercely for business, the specials are available at all 12 restaurants.

Dinner is a pricier affair. At Pooja, my personal favorite, main courses go for $14 to $16. Elaborate three course meals cost $33.

Passage Brady is much more than chicken Tandoori and chapatti, however. It’s a bridge between ethnic communities. It’s a cultural melting pot filled primarily with Turks, Africans, Indians, Pakistanis, a wide range of tourists, and of course the French.

Because Passage Brady is an extremely narrow lane, pedestrians are forced to walk single file between the outdoor tables. On several occasions, I sat beneath the 150-year-old glass roof, scarfing down chicken curry and watching the locals squeeze by.

Burka-clad women stopped to scrutinize vegetables at the stand in front of Velan Sari. Indian and Pakistani workmen carted boxes back and forth. West African women filed into Coiffure Dove, the only salon catering to “Afro Americain” hair.

I’ve seen Turkish laborers, Moroccan families, Asian businessmen, French office workers, and German tourists. I once saw a white Westerner with a group of Eastern European locals. His head was shaved; he wore a Buddhist monk’s robe. The cultures and skin tones are typical of the 10th Arrondissement. Many of Paris’ 375,000 legal immigrants live and work in this district.

At the western end of Passage Brady, for example, Rue St. Denis teems with Turkish restaurants, open-air butcher shops, ma and pa grocers, and vegetable stands. St. Denis resembles an Istanbul market more so than a Paris street.

The eastern end of the Passage (at Blvd. de Strasbourg) leads to a plethora of African enterprises. Within 3 blocks of this entrance, there are perhaps 2 dozen bustling black hair care salons.

Africans. Turks. Indians. Pakistanis. Tourists. The French. At one time or another you’ll see them dining at a restaurant along Passage Brady. It’s a cultural and gastronomic feast.

Next stop: Paris, France

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