The Studio, as the place was called, opened in March of 1983. I asked Benayoun. We had a Mexican chef for a while. He made mole for a Day of the Dead celebration one year. Everybody hated it.
Mexican food is too elaborate, too old-fashioned for Paris.
And you know the French are crazy about Texas. Still, Benayoun's Tex-Mex concept was not an instant success. Parisians don't like to eat with their hands. Business was pretty slow for a couple of years. We got lots of American ex-pats, but not so many French people.