On Saturday afternoon, July 8th, 2000, I sat down in San Francisco with Alain Delangle, chef/owner of Le Charm French Bistro. I wanted to discuss the differences between French restaurants in the United States and restaurants in his native France. But, as you will find, the conversation did not always remain on course.
    Chef Delangle has been cooking, starting with pastry, since he was a child. As he put it, “After lunch, I was still hungry and I made pastry for myself.” At 16, he attended Ecole Ferrandi, one of the premier cooking schools in France. Upon completion of his studies, he started his restaurant career in the kitchens of France. He was sous chef at Morot Gaudry when he met his future wife, Lina Yew, of San Francisco. As he put it, “We had to decide whether to open an American restaurant in Paris, or a French restaurant in San Francisco.”