Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-04-01
Cities
and People
The Voice
Of the Turtle
By ROBERT ]. LEWIS

changes everything. An
ger and envy are out the
window. Silly matters fall
into their properly humorous
perspective. A vast euphoria
soothes US all.
For 10, the tUinter Is
past, the rain is ouer and
gone;
"The tlolDers appear on
the earth; the time of
the singing of birds is
come,
and the uoice of the
turtle is heard In our
land"
Under the circumstances,
what could be more cheerful
news to hear than that
Washington soon will have a
sidewalk cafe across from the
Wnlte House?
*&&
JUST A YEAR AGO To-
MORROW, the first Sunday
column to appear in this
space started out by saying:
Restaurant owners in
Vienna have a common
thought around this time of
year, and a common saying
known to all Viennese:
"Schani, trag den garten
aussi'".
I'm other words, Johnny,
bring the garden OUT. Thus,
with a few boxes Of ever
greens, are sidewalk cafes
created in Old Vienna.
Thus, also, a new sidewalk
cafe has just been created a
few steps from historic La
fayette Square, on the
sidewalk in front of the
restaurant Chez Francois.
1t Is Washington's second,
and will open in a week or
so. It's owner is Francois
Haeripger, an AlSatian who
took the first step toward
opening a sidewalk cafe q
years ago when, at 16, he be-
came an apprentice cook at.
the Hotel Chambard, in
KaySersberg, near Colmar, in
his native Alsace-Lorraine.
$50
'TT WAS A NICE PLACE
a little auberge in the coun-
try, where you get the best
food - and we had a little
pond in the garden with a
lot of big trout in it," Fran
co.'s said yesterday.
II had%o go in the garden
whenI was a youngster, with
a big hat on, and I would get
the trout fresh out of the
pond for the customers.
"They chose the trout they
wanted, and I got them out.
1t wasa ritual to make peo-
pie happy, and they liked it.
'For three years / was an
apprentice, and I never got
paid. Instead, my father had
to pay Mr.. Chambard 1000
francs a year when I made
my apprenticeship"
From early youth, Fran
co.'s had his eyes on WASH
ington. That was because
jacques Haeringer - the
great chef who opened the
Shoreham Hotel Che was also
chef at the Mayflower and
the Carlton)-was his uncle,
and because his brother Al
fred also had come over here
more than IS years ago.
"They always told my
family how nice it is in
America, and this was my
ambition, to come here" said
Francois.
But first he worked in
Strasbourg, then Paris, at
the Plaza Athenee. Then the
war came, and service in the
French army, capture by the
Germans, and a period of
working in one of the biggest
and best restaurants in Ger
many-the Vier Jahrzeiten
("The Four Seasons"') in
Munich, where he was forced
to cook for Hitler, Goering,
Himmler, Bormann, and
other Nazi bigwigs.
After the war was over,
I went home to Obernie, in
Alsace, and made some work,
and later to a ski resort in
the Pyrenees called Super
bajnere, for one season, and
then to Font-Romeu and
made another season there"
y 4
FINALLY, in 194S, he
arrived in Washington. He
was a cook for Henri Am
bord, at Les Trois Mouseque-
taires, at 818 Connecticut
avenue NV. When Mr.. Am
bord retired five years ago,
Francois took over as owner,
renamed the restaurant Chez
Francois.
1.-The hope for a sidewalk
cafe I had a long time ago."
he said. at is nice outside
in the open air. But 7 will not