Paris in Mind: A Princeton-area Panera

These are trying times. People are struggling with life and death scenarios across the globe, battles are literally being fought. Posting meaningless pictures feels silly but perhaps they will provide a tiny lift and a reminder for daily gratitude. There was something about this Princeton-area Panera (the Panera of bakery-café, fast casual chain restaurants in the U.S.) that had me double taking and photo snapping. What? Finding inspiration inside a Panera??!! I was taken with the clean neutrals, whites and woods, and spring greens. The interesting mix of upholstered linens on the curved booth-backs felt comforting. And there was a thoughtful use of cooking utensils and kitchen instruments displayed throughout that lent a homey feel. But I think it was the Parisian Pea Green on the focal, curved bakery-front and on wood accents throughout that had me arrêter et remarquer. Félicitations Panera!

I attached three photos below displaying favored French connections to this Parisian Pea Green color.
Julia Child’s kitchen is a historic artifact on display on the ground floor of the Smithsonian Institution‘s National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center, located in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. Her light blue cabinets appear to be a similar pea green in the museum’s dark lighting.
An Entrance to the Paris Métropolitain, a sculpture by Hector Guimard, conceived in 1902 and fabricated between 1902 and 1913, is at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.A photo I took in Paris at Ladurée Paris Bonaparte, 2003, from one of my very first blog posts, Remembering 30.

All photography Beth Horta for Sweet Sabelle.