Marie Kecman is the owner/chef of Cà Phê Broc’ouest in Paris, France. Born in 1972 in Sài Gòn, Marie arrived in France at the age of four with the rest of her family as repatriates, through her mother’s biological father’s French citizenship. In this interview, Marie shares fond memories of her childhood among the first wave of post-1975 refugees and repatriates from Vietnam in France, growing up in her parents’ restaurants and later as an adult supporting her father’s longtime staple at métro Volontaires, Le drapeau de la fidélité, and community-building among Vietnamese refugees in West Germany where she spent her high school years with her uncle who had founded an association to assist new arrivals. She tells stories of learning to cook with her cousins and participating in leisure activities and festivals within the community which helped her reconnect to her Vietnamese heritage. Regarding her own restaurant, which she opened shortly before the COVID lockdown, she takes great pride in cultivating a convivial atmosphere and adding her unique flair to typical Vietnamese dishes, like wrapping edible flowers into spring rolls – her plat signature.
This interview was conducted in French over the course of two days in Paris, France in July 2024. Footage consists of two parts. Full transcripts can be found below each video.
