GLOBALIZATION describes the opening decades of the 21^st century.  Countries and cultures are bound together by light speed communication disrupting old boundaries and ways of life.  I think about this a lot.  Can we conceive a way forward, a productive support for a humanly productive humanity,—avoiding the cul de sac of exploitation? Are we not becoming servants rather than being served by our tools?  Indeed the challenge is as old as Homo Faber, “humankind the tool maker.”  What’s new is the warp speed of change, the criticality of the matter.

On the plus side of the globalization ledger is my

relationship with Taste of Paris Café, and the staff who make it the place that it is.  On most Sunday mornings Laura and I can be found there, usually under the Eiffel Tower, which graces one of the two dining rooms.  The food and the relationships have become a valued aspect of our routine.  The breakfast menu is basic, affordable, delicious, and entailing the culinary

experience of Chef Claude.  Claude is a pastry specialist and begins the baking long before sunrise.  It is not unusual for Claude to emerge from the kitchen to make rounds of the tables in order to exchange greetings with his guests.  He has a delightful sense of humor.

The wait-staff’s performance is a credit to Claude’s insistence on detail, and presentation.  They are warm and articulate.

So, on the positive side of this time in which we live, Taste of Paris Cafe has made Mundelein a better place.  Were I to have the privilege of spending some time in Paris, I have no doubt that I would discover the place and the people to be wonderfully agreeable.  Shall we meet under the Eiffel Tower?