Transcultural Devon interview with Florian 2025

So, good afternoon Florian

Thank you for participating in my
interview

Could you please start by introducing
yourself and telling us a bit about you

Yes, I am Florian, I am 33 years old

I have been in England for 6 years now

I grew up in the South of France
with my Mum and Dad who were fishmongers

Up until 19 I was working with my Dad
then I left France

I left to go and work in Australia

and then Australia is where I met my
wife, well who is now my wife

an we decided to move to the UK
7 years ago now

and yeah, now it's been 5 years since we
opened our restaurant

That's great, and why did you decide
to move to Devon?

Because my wife is very close to her
family

and she didn't want to go further than
England

and for me it's because I know how to
speak English

my wife knows how to speak English

and Australia is harder to immigrate to

so we chose England

And did you have any knowledge of
English before arriving to England

or did you learn it when you arrived here

No, I learnt English when I arrived in
Australia

when I was 19/20 I left for Australia and
my English was really bad

It's still not very good if I'm being
honest

I still have a quite French accent

but I learnt it in Australia when I was
20

so when I arrived in the UK, I already
spoke English

Ok, and did you notice that English
language in Australia

is a bit different to the English here
in the UK

maybe in terms of slang and expressions
and things like that

Yes, the expressions, yes exactly

then there were people from the outback
or rural areas

and you know the rural people,

sometimes they were really hard to
understand

but they didn't understand me either

so we didn't understand each other

it was a bit like that

but I think the English are bit easier
to understand than the Australians

their a bit lazy the Australians

and how was settling in here?

Did you feel welcomed, or were there
moments you felt like an outsider?

maybe in comparison to Australia,
for example

No not at all

I think the English like the French a lot

I think we've have always been
good neighbours

so no I've never felt any discrimination

there are some people who often don't
make the effort to understand me maybe

but that happens everywhere

it's because it's England

for example, if I'm on the phone and I
I make an order

things like that

sometimes I have to repeat myself 5, 6
times

but that is also down to me,
because my accent is terrible

but apart from that, no

everything is going well

and have you met other French people
in the Devon area?

is there a noticeable French community
here?

because I don't know myself

well I have a restaurant

and I have a few French people
that come in who are...

how do you say

regulars

I've forgotten the word in French

who are, well yeah regulars

but otherwise yeah there are some French

but I wouldn't say its a big big community

but yes yes a few of them yeah

and so with your wife

and maybe in your restaurant as well

what is the main language that you speak

always in English

always in English

with my wife she wants me to speak
more in French with her

to learn French

but it's hard because when we work
together,

when we have to do things together

it's a bit hard to always speak in French

it's easier to work in English

so no it's english, exclusively English

and would you say that it was more your
wife who helped you learn English

when you arrived in Australia

yes, it was my wife

when I was in Australia

In the beginning I worked with French
people

in French restaurants

and there was only French people

so I didn't need to speak English

but later on, I set off to explore
a bit

so I had to speak English

and when I met her

I wanted to win her over

so I had to learn some words in English

and so yeah, she helped me learn

but in the beginning it was a bit like
sign language that I would use with her

and then she helped me learn bit by bit

and now I am bilingual thanks to her

and is she bilingual as well?

Does she speak a bit of French?

she speaks a bit in French

she understands

she understands very well if people
don't speak too quickly

but she is not bilingual

but she understands french yes

and just out of interest

do your family speak English as well?

no, no one speaks English in my family

so just French

Yes

Ok

and what do you like to do in your free
time

when you are not managing your restaurant

Well, we don't have a lot of free time

but when we do, we try to go out in Devon

on the tarcatrels?

we have bikes

go for a bike ride

we like to try the restaurants that
are around us as well

because we also like to be the clients
you know

so yeah we're enjoying a good life here
in Devon

the sun is usually shining

so yeah, we've got enough outside
let's say

have you found any favourite spots
in Devon

that maybe you like to visit on your
days off?

do you feel that it is a bit similar to
the South of France?

I'm not sure specifically where your
your from in the South of France

No, it's completely different I think

I come from the South of France from
Montpellier

which can be one of the big cities

here it's a very small town where I am

Bideford

and even so the biggest city that there
is near us is Exeter

which is not next to the sea and is
very very far

well around 45 minutes

as you know as you are there

but no, no I like going to Peppercombe
beach

it's a little beach which isn't too far
from here

around 20 minutes in the car I think

there is also a good campsite that we like
going to

that we go to often

It's called Nethercott

and there's also Barnstaple as well

so yeah, we go camping and go on
little outings to the beach

we have 2, 3 spots that we like yeah

but it doesn't ressemble France at all,
it's completely different

yeah I can imagine

and what was the biggest challenge
for you

coming to live in a different culture?

and how did you overcome it?

maybe it was the language

yeah it was especially in Australia

I think the difficulty in the beginning
when you are boss

when you are the big boss

and you have to get your team to
understand

and talk to the supplier

sometimes its a bit frustrating

because for example if I absolutely
need something

I'll make my evening order for the
following morning

the next morning it arrives

and its not at all what I ordered

they have sent me something else

so for me, I have to change the menu the
night before

all that you know

so it was more in the beginning

but otherwise here, since i've been
in Bideford

I haven't had a single big problem,
let's just say

I want to say as well

the biggest hurdle to overcome was
Covid-19

because we had just opened the
restaurant before Covid

so it took us about a year before
we had to close for a year

just at the time when we were opening

so it wasn't great but we managed
to get past it

and were still open so yeah it's ok

Yeah I wanted to ask you how Brexit
affected you guys

but I also think Brexit it was maybe
the same year I think

I think it was 2020

but I imagine that yes with Covid it was,

particularly with a new restaurant
it wasn't easy to get the word out

But yes, I would love to talk to you
about your restaurant

because as I've said, I think both
are linked

So, before speaking about it

I wanted to ask you

what drove you to this career?

Did you grow up cooking a lot
with your family

I know you said that your parents
are in the industry

Yes, so my father is still a fishmonger

So when I was little I worked with him

because my primary school was next
to his shop,

so when I finished school I would
go there

and I would stay there until he closed

then I would go home with him

so I learnt about fish, how to fillet
fish since I was little

how to open oysters, how to cook

because he had a catering side as well

so I started with my father

and yeah after that I did my
apprenticeship with him

and so yeah I think

well lets just say, my destiny was mapped
out in this direction

since I was little this is what I was
led to do

and what inspired you to open
'Le Petit Monde' in Devon?

for example was there a precise moment

that you knew that it was here that you
wanted to do it?

because I don't think there is a ton of
French restaurants here

well, there a few but yes,
not really a lot

but actually we were looking when
we cam from Australia

we worked in London

and then after 2, 3 years

we had saved a bit of money

and wanted to open our own restaurant

and we searched a bit of the
surrounding areas

we wanted a restaurant that was
small enough

so that we could manage it just
the two of us

we wanted a restaurant that was close
to the sea

and a restaurant with an apartment above

so that we didn't need to travel
or commute to work

So it took about 3 years to find
the right place

We viewed restaurants in Brighton

we viewed restaurants in the North

in Cumbria

we went to Falmouth in Cornwall

we visited a lot

and in the end we found this restaurant

that was exactly what we were after

so it was more practical that we
chose Devon, Bideford

because we fell in love with it

and because it ticked all the boxes
for us

you said that you worked in London

how was it different in London, compared
to here?

maybe regarding the aspects of hospitality

and the restaurants

in London, being a chef makes you
want to pull your hair out

and the commuting takes up a lot of time

I dont think that being a chef or a cook
in London is a good career

except if your in something exceptional

like as a head chef in a small restaurant

I definitely prefer to be working in
Devon, for sure

and even if I didn't have a restaurant,

even if I worked for someone else,

I would prefer here for sure

and obviously your restaurant is called
'Le Petit Monde'

and I saw on your website that you
have written a little description

about why it is called 'Le Petit Monde'

but I wanted to ask you yourself

what does it this name mean to you and
your kitchen

well it was really about finding a name
that spoke to us

well, you haven't been to my restaurant
yet

and I hope you will come one day

but it's a little restaurant, I only have
8 tables

and it's been 5 years since we've
been open

and everyone that generally comes now,
know each other

we know them

and yesterday we were invited to eat
at one of our clients

who comes in all the time

so now we're in our own little world

a small family

so we wanted the restaurant to be
like that

something familial

so the little world of Florian and Lydia,

it's all the people that come to eat
at ours

and to have a good time really

that's really nice that you have created
a little community with your clients

your cooking is a bridge between France
and Devon

Do you think that your food can serve
as a universal language,

to build connections across cultural
differences

everyone loves to eat

I don't know anyone that doesn't
love good food

so even if someone arrived, and
they weren't happy

and then they eat something good

they will be happy when they leave

and it's the same with everyone

the people that come here

they want to have a little taste

what we do in France, and what I do,

I mostly do French dishes

and yes I think that there are people

that have never tried frogs legs,
for example

and they come to my restaurant,

and they try it,

and maybe they have never tried it

they've gone elsewhere

but because our restaurant is so small,
and welcoming

so yes I think that cooking can break
down barriers

and do you think that your relationship
with food

has changed since you left France?

and how has your way of cooking
and eating

evolved through exposure to a
new culture

because obviously here in Devon,
in general

I think it's marked as a place, that
is really known for its seafood

and there is maybe a resemblance
from where your from in France

my father was a fishmonger and
fish caterer

and here I cook fish a lot

so It's really the same thing

as it's my restaurant, I decide
everything I do

I create the menu

so It wasn't really a massive shock,
in terms of that

I found it a bit difficult to find
fish suppliers

which is weird as

England is a little island

surrounded by sea water

and when you don't find any fish

it's really bizarre sometimes

but no apart from that, it wasn't really
a shock

It's what I was doing in France, but I'm
doing it here

and have you ever had to adapt a dish

to please the British?

and was it difficult?

or was it more of a creative challenge?

no it's not difficult

it's just a matter of judging and knowing

what the English like and what they hate

and they won't even try it

then won't even taste it, they will just
hate it

and it's just a case of trial and error

I think is what we say in English

to know how to do it, to observe,
and to listen to the critiques

for example, something as simple as

every time I have an argument with my wife

because of that

but I do a lot of 'Bouillabaisse'