Reykjavik's Lemon restaurant opens in Paris in March
Lemon offers a variety of fresh juices and healthy sandwiches. Mbl.is/ Árni Sæberg
Lemon, an Icelandic juice and sandwich chain will be opening in Paris on March 1st on Rue des Petits Carreaux just off famous pedestrian street Rue Montorgeuil in the second arondissement.
Icelander Eva Gunnarsdóttir obtained the first licence for a Lemon branch in Paris and says she's thrilled about its location, in a 150 square metre building and on two floors. Gunnarsdóttir, who has lived in Paris for ten years says that preparations have taken over a year and a half.
"There's a lot of bureaucracy in France. I think they deliberately make it difficult for people to set up a business." Ten years ago Gunnarsdóttir worked for a Landsbankinn branch in Paris. Then she began teaching for a while and "Just became incredibly French," she says laughing.
"When my husband and I had our second child I stopped working and have stayed at home for six years. Now we have three children and that's enough, and now I'm free to do something new."
Having led a healthy lifestyle, Gunnarsdóttir has been a fan of juicing and eating healthy food over recent years and therefore loved the idea behind Lemon.
"Places like Lemon are starting to pop up in Paris, and some restaurants offer fresh juices but it's much more of a fad in Iceland. The French are always one step behind because their culture is so strong, they're not mad about trying new things. I think the opening of Lemon comes at the right time because the younger generation is open to change."
Speaking to mbl.is last year, Jón Arnar Guðbrandsson, one of the owners of Lemon said that Lemon would probably be opening in Britain this year.
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Eva Gunnarsdóttir opens the first Parisian Lemon: just off the trendy rue Montorgeuil in the 2nd arondissement.
