Who’s Nous?

Today we get to know Nous a bit better. Nous is a fast food restaurant in Paris specialised in Smile Food that has several gluten free options on the menu. Paula and Henri, founders of Nous, answer to our questions.

Chiara: Why gluten free?

Paula: Henri is intolerant to gluten so at the beginning it was a constraint but we decided to transform it into an opportunity. We started to image a place where everybody could be welcomed: people intolerant to gluten, vegetarian, people who like eating meat…we wanted to create a menu with good options that could satisfy as many people as possible.

Henri: Sometimes when you have an allergy or a sensitivity, it is difficult to go out and eat together with your colleagues or friends. Then you need to explain why you cannot eat this or that and this can make you feel uncomfortable. We wanted to avoid this feeling and have a place where all people can eat happily and relaxed together.

Chiara: What is Nous?

Paula: It’s a food concept that translates into a restaurant specialised in fast street food. We decided to call it Smile Food because we source the best ingredients to create recipes that are healthy, tasty and full of colours. Nous means We and this We is not just me and Henri. Nous is our clients, the friends who helped us create this place, the people who work with us, our suppliers that we get to know very well now. Nous is creating a relationship between people based on good, healthy food that is simple, yet full of taste. At Nous the recipes come from the inspiration of our travelling around the world but also from our home. We wanted to create a menu that looked like us.

Chiara: What is the gluten free food that you loved the most?

Henri: The pasta we ate in Italy and also our gluten free beer.

Paula: For me too the pasta we ate in Italy. I actually couldn’t believe it was gluten free, it was so good. Also a pizza we had in Florence, soft and tasty.

Chiara: Gluten free is…

Paula: Becoming more conscious of the food you eat. When you start cooking and eating gluten free you need to start paying more attention to the ingredients you buy, the way you cook them, so you become more attentive to what you eat instead of having whatever. Besides it’s very good! To me it is great when you can make gluten free food that is so good that people cannot spot the difference with a similar one with gluten. Most of my clients don’t know that what they eat is gluten free.

Henri: It is the future, the evolution of the way we nourish ourselves. It is more than just a trend.

Chiara: What is Nous next challenge?

Paula: Make more people become attentive and conscious of what they eat and how they eat it.

Henri: Have gluten free become more mainstream.

To read my older post on Nous:

http://bacididamaglutenfree.com/en/portfolio/nous/