Paris Welcomes its First Texas Barbecue Restaurant

Amid Paris' numerous boulangeries, bistros, and patisseries you can now find a proper smokehouse. According to Paris by Mouth, Frenchman Thomas Abramowicz opened his new barbecue restaurant, The Beast, in Paris yesterday after a year spent studying the craft. Abramowicz moved to America for a marketing job but soon became hooked on barbecue. So he decided to "trade his high salary...for the sweaty job of a Parisian pit boss."

Abramowicz spent a month eating through twenty of Texas' best barbecue spots before training at a BBQ food truck in Houston, studying under Wayne Mueller of the legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas, and consulting with famed barbecue master Aaron Franklin.

The biggest challenge Abramowicz faced was sourcing a traditional smoker, so he had one built in Texas and shipped over to him: It turned out to be nearly "six square meters" and so he named it ‘The Beast.'" Also challenging? Sourcing the meat. Turns out French beef is "too lean" so, for now, he is importing it from the United States.

He's also had to adapt the menu for his French customers: Traditional sides like baked beans and macaroni and cheese are "too heavy" so he's added options like steamed broccoli and snap peas instead. With the slight modifications, Abramowicz thinks that barbecue — like hamburgers — will take off among Parisians: "France is a big meat country."