Screenwriter finds solace in Paris diner
January 13, 2004 - CNN.com
PARIS, France (Hollywood Reporter)—Lacking the success he sought in the film industry, screenwriter Craig Carlson decided to take another path.
He persuaded some Hollywood friends to invest in a diner in Paris—the French culinary equivalent of a snowball’s chance in hell. Since its opening, Breakfast in America has become a cultural crossroads between conflicted countries.
Carlson initially worried that the film-themed restaurant would be a target for Parisians protesting the war in Iraq, but instead it has turned into a forum between the two communities.
“We had student protesters walking by once a week,” Carlson says.
“(During the initial military campaign in Iraq), Americans would come in, in shock, trying to understand the war,” he recounts. “The French in the restaurant would keep it strictly to the man: Bush.”
The restaurateur says he has gotten some resistance from the locals since opening the eatery early last year.
“Old-timers grumble when they come in here that they don’t want a burger stand in their neighborhood,” Carlson says. But, some of those very same hard-liners seem oddly at home in the diner. “Some people have no idea what they’re eating, but (they’re) happy.”
For homesick Americans touring or working here, Breakfast in America is a place of comfort, with food every bit as good as that of a Route 66 restaurant. The home fries are top-notch, the coffee bottomless, and the milkshakes would make Baskin-Robbins proud.
‘I didn’t want to grow old in L.A.’
Though Carlson’s Hollywood career didn’t work out quite as he had planned, celluloid still runs through his veins. Three of his USC grad school classmates came on as investors in the diner: “Con Air” writer Scott Rosenberg, “Runaway Jury” director Gary Fleder and “Daredevil” director of photography Ericson Core, along with “Friends” director Roger Christiansen and “Bad Santa” writer Glenn Ficarra.
“Diners were the thing I realized I missed here,” Carlson says. The screenwriter, who had split his time between Paris and Hollywood, cites Los Angeles’ Ship’s diner (now defunct, he notes with a frown) and the Pantry as personal favorites.
So why did he decide to change hats?
“One day, I left my (Paris) apartment on my way back to L.A. The sun was out, and (someone) was playing a piano ... and the church bells were chiming,” he says with a far-away look in his eyes. “I could see myself struggling as an artist in Paris, but I didn’t want to grow old in L.A.”
Hollywood has left an indelible mark on Breakfast in America, as the walls between booths are lined with photos of diner scenes from classic films: Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth conspire in “Pulp Fiction” on one wall, near where Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan debate (pre-fake orgasm) in “When Harry Met Sally…”
Filmmakers are also beginning to find the restaurant: A scene for a Swiss film was shot there, and Carlson says a location scout visited recently for an upcoming film starring Emmanuelle Beart.
“It’s like ‘Godfather III’! I can’t get out of the business! I keep trying, (but) screenwriters keep giving me stuff to look at, and people keep shooting scenes here!” he says with a smirk.
After trading it all in, is the film buff happy? “Three-hundred different films screen every day in Paris—more than anywhere in the world,” he says. “It’s paradise!”
