I meet Lawrence –the owner of Pousse Pousse– at 12 o clock. A beautiful lady with red curly hair, big bright eyes and red lipstick sits in front of me. I fall in love! How beautiful people can be if they care for their inner body. So Lawrence – a living example 😉
Her food journey began during her teens. She tried different diets and at the end she discovered Raw food. Especially the life force of sprouts fascinated her. Years passed and 12 years ago she decided to open a store and lunchroom. “Pousse Pousse” – sprout sprout.
She started very special. Salads served with heaps of sprouts ( think of Alfalfa, lentils and broccoli sprouts), wheatgrass juice and raw crackers… Who knew about those things and ever wanted to try it?
Times of frustration…Paris as a huge cosmopolitan city and yet – people were afraid and reacted very shy towards her cuisine. It became a challenge to find educated workers for her kitchen and store, too. She mostly prepared everything on her own and tought her workers. On top of it years ago, when EHEC bacteria were found in green sprouts by the European Union, people got scared to eat raw. Time for a change….
Now her menu contains raw meals and salads as well as vegan cooked food. Every day she invents a new day menu, of cause seasonal. Lawrence:
“I’d like to show people the pleasure-site of life. Nobody should miss something. My store and lunchroom is based on flexibility.”
Flexibility… If you don’t like to stay you can have everything To Go. Even the visitors come and go in a high tempo. While I still eat my main menu I get the third lunching neighbor. Because the tables are so small you feel like sitting next to your schoolmate. Now Caroline sits next to me. I ask her if she likes to come here. She laughs:
“Oh yes, I love it, I come here for already six years. It is always a menu surprise and fresh healthy food. Super tasty. And I have a lot of energy when leaving this place!”
Lawrence and Caroline are chatting. The atmosphere is great, so many people who love this place. A German visitor who just finished her menu tells Lawrence her gratitude for having a place like that in Paris. This is what Lawrence experiences: it helps a lot to have foreigners here! They spread the message, often know what’s about and influence back doors the Parisian.
I ask Lawrence about her plans and dreams in about five years.
“I would love to finish my cookbook and have my own products. I will open a bigger restaurant as well, wit raw/cooked vegan food and served with wine…”
(Flexibility 😉 Next door she already started to renovate the coming restaurant.
During our conversation we realize: the field of a plant based, preferably raw, diet is just growing. It’s just at the beginning that more people like to discover it and there is so much to do. For me it’s for sure that Lawrence is fulfilled by her work. I can not overhear her passion and intelligence when speaking about this topic. Of cause I ask her: “Are you happy?”.
“Yes, I’m very happy! I just need more time to get this done!”
Lawrence, thank you very much. I wish you all the best and all the moments you need to get your vision done!
You can find Pousse Pousse at: