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| Paris symbol of Jewish life to disappear
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Photo: Shirli Sitbon
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The Goldenberg Restaurant, the symbol of the Jewish quarter of the Marais, might disappear following severe financial problems.
Jo Goldenberg’s famous restaurant in Rue des Rosiers in Paris is expected to file for bankruptcy in the next days, manager Gilles Werndorfer confirmed Wednesday.
The business, that opened more than 50 years ago, has piled up debts and had to close down a couple of months ago following repeated complaints from hygiene services. A notice on the restaurant’s door indicated construction work would end in December, but Goldenberg failed to reopen.
Goldenberg is the most notorious Jewish establishment in Paris. Jews from across the world come to sample its traditional cuisine. However, the restaurant has a reputation for poor hygiene standards, which may explain part of its difficulties.
Community sources say that the restaurant may have been mismanaged.
“The restaurant has a chance of overcoming this,” commented Werndorfer on Jewish radio. “It’s an important task to save the last Ashkenazi restaurant in the capital.”
Jewish presence fading
Goldenberg is not only one of the few Eastern European establishments; it is also one of the only kosher restaurants trying to survive in Rosiers Street, where the Jewish presence is fading after centuries of existence.
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Picture taken 11 August 1982 rue des Rosiers in Paris of the facade of the restaurant Jo-Goldenberg after it was devastated by an attack on 9 August 1982, when two men threw a grenade inside and then opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing six people and wounding 22.
Photo: AFP | Journalists regularly come to Goldenberg’s to feel the pulse of the Jewish community. In 2002, during the presidential election, Jo Goldenberg caused a scandal when he expressed support for extremist leader Jean-Marie le Pen in a television interview.
In 1982, the restaurant was the target of an attack when terrorists threw a grenade into its main room and opened fire at passers-by, killing six people.
If Jo Goldenberg’s restaurant closes down, an era would end in the Jewish neighbourhood of the Marais. For the past few years the City Hall has been planning the quarter’s conversion into a fancy, clean-cut tourist street with no cars and luxury fashion stores.
This policy is not restricted to Jewish neighbourhoods; several other Parisian quarters are to be redesigned have been remodelled by the city.
“This street is turning into a museum,” butcher Michel Kalifa told EJP. “Our Jewish clients are leaving this place because they can’t get here by car. They can’t just take their groceries back home by taking the metro with their kids. It’s not practical, so they stop coming.”
Saving the neighbourhood
 Who would want to come to such a soulless neighbourhood anyway?
Gilles Werndorfer, Jo Goldenberg manager | Several years ago, Kalifa created a special committee of shopkeepers who work to preserve the neighbourhood. They have signed petitions and put banners on their facades to protest against the public works decided by the mayor to transform the street into a walkway.
“The soul of the street is fading away,” banners read. Wendorfer, the manager of Goldenberg restaurant, agrees.
Since the mayor of the 4th arrondissement, Dominique Bertinotti, launched her master plan for the neighbourhood, several businesses closed down. Book, grocery and food stores could not afford to stay in what has become a luxurious street. They were replaced one by one by out-priced fashion stores.
“Who would want to come to such a soulless neighbourhood anyway?” asks Werndorfer.
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