French Resistance, American Style

[MORTARDUDE]

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French Resistance, American Style


By Alan J. Wax
STAFF WRITER

March 23, 2003


Call it the French resistance.

And it has reached an extreme at Mayfair Wines & Liquors in Flushing, where owner John Karinca said complaints from his customers forced him to remove a display of French wines from his shop.

"They?re not buying French," Karinca said, explaining that after six customers asked him to remove his display of French wines, "I had to take it down."

Karinca is not alone.

Area wine shops and French restaurants are feeling the impact of what appears to be a growing consumer backlash against French wines and foods.

France has been the object of anger among many Americans since President George W. Bush blamed his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac, for wrecking moves to build international support for the war against Iraq. But Long Islanders may be placing the blame closer to home.

At Chez Noelle in Port Washington, business is down "maybe, a little bit," owner Noelle Simonin said.

"It?s difficult to understand that kind of backlash," said Maria Reuge, co-owner of Mirabelle, a French restaurant in St. James, which also has experienced a downturn in recent days.

She said she is unsure if the sluggishness is because of anti-French sentiment. "All of my people are Americans, including Guy," the restaurant?s chef and her husband. But there have been recent isolated flare-ups of anti-French sentiment. She cited a customer who got upset after discovering the restaurant served French food, and another who adamantly refused a French beer. Meanwhile, she said, another customer bought a Puligny-Montrachet, an expensive white Burgundy wine, "without any problem."

Anti-French sentiment came into sharp focus earlier this month when Congress ordered that French fries served in its dining rooms be renamed freedom fries.

"The antipathy toward France at the moment runs deeper than we thought," Santa Monica, Calif.-based supermarket consultant Phil Lempert said, commenting on an informal Internet poll he conducted last week. According to the poll, 53 percent of those responding approved of renaming French fries and 73 percent supported a boycott of French consumer products.

Rhona Silver, owner of Rhona Silver?s Huntington Townhouse, supports the idea. "I will not serve any product that comes from France, and anything I have I am disposing of," said Silver, who is also giving up Paris fashions. "I?m an American and proud to be one. I will not sell any product from a country that doesn?t stand with us."

The wine business seems to be getting hit the hardest

"There is resistance," said Nick Poulos, owner of Pop?s Wine & Liquors in Island Park, adding that sales of French wines began to slow in the last 10 days, primarily among casual consumers. "Some people are taking a stand," he said. "They?re angry about the French position."

Jim Gang, manager at Amagansett Wines & Spirits, said he?s seen some impact, too. "There have been some people who clearly have shied away from buying French wine," Gang said, noting that one high-profile customer who ordinarily buys French wines ordered 40 cases of wine last week for a catered family party. "He definitely showed support for domestic wine," Gang added.

Wholesalers and retailers said French wine aficionados won?t give them up. "We?re selling a ton of French wine still," said Michael Skurnik, president of Syosset-based wine importer company Michael Skurnik Inc. Wine connoisseurs don?t have strong political convictions, he said, and he predicted the backlash will be short-lived. "When there?s a great vintage, they buy the wine."
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