Amuse Bouche Vendor Finds New Amusements

Murat Celebi-Ariner/Mission Loc@l

The Celibi-Ariners in Paris: They've sort of moved on.

Plus ça change. In late 2009 the city's card-table street-food scene glowed under the lights of TV crews, and stopping the deportation of Amuse Bouche street vendor Murat Celebi-Ariner became the Mission's cause célèbre. Yesterday Mission Loc@l's Octavio Lopez Raygoza filed a followup on Celebi-Ariner and his wife, Pelin, a U.S. citizen who followed her husband to Paris after ICE booted him. (Funny story ― Celebi-Ariner overstayed his temporary visa, then procrastinated on his green card application.)

But in the same way S.F. street diners have moved on from apartment-baked muffins and chai from pump pots to chef-grade food from trucks, the Celebi-Ariners seem to have moved on from the whole incident. They have 4-month-old kid, Murat works in a comic book store, Pelin teaches English, and ― well ― Parisians don't really get street food. Mission Loc@l:

"French culture is different," said Murat. French people are not accustomed to buying their food on the streets, he said, and usually eat at home.

The former vendor thinks French authorities are less lenient about food permits and street vendors. "They would give you a ticket right away."