Word: ricard
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...hurl myself into the breach in defense of Paul Ricard, inventor of the finest drink since sour mash [Feb. 25]. Your reporter, probably an undercover man for the W.C.T.U., has slandered the drinking man's Thomas Edison in saying that ice added to Ricard's pastis turns the licorice into a gooey glob. I modestly claim the record for annual consumption by an American of this delightful brew, and have yet to find a single glob in any of my well-iced drinks. Retract your calumny against this benefactor of mankind...
...Safe Distance. The company's founder and chairman, Paul Ricard, 56, is a flamboyant fellow who revels in the title "the Aperitif King of France." The son of a Marseille wine merchant, Ricard once had notions of being an artist; his practical father insisted, however, that he learn to earn a living first. Ricard turned from palette to pastis making, took over the family bathroom as his laboratory and distillery, added licorice to the standard pastis recipe to improve (or maybe to kill) the usual flavor. Perhaps an even better salesman than distiller, he drummed up a thriving trade...
...Ricard sustained himself and his employees during the war by introducing rice culture to France. He drained 2,100 acres of the Camargue. a brackish swamp west of Marseille, pumped in fresh water, raised crops that led to an industry that has made France self-sufficient in rice. At war's end Ricard returned to pastis making. As Frenchmen flocked to the Riviera for sun and fun, they picked up the pastis habit, demanded what Ricard calls his "sunshine in a bottle" when they got home. With rising orders from all of France, Ricard's production went from...
Busier Than the French Line. Ricard spends much of his time on the Riviera, last week played host there to a varied list that included Red Chinese diplomats, Ricard truck drivers, private secretaries attending conventions and Italian Film Maker Roberto Rossellini. He leaves pastis operations to subordinates. "I'm not here to run the business day to day," he tells them, "but to foresee the future." Cushioning that future, Ricard has expanded into mineral water, fruit juices, cognac, wine and vermouth...
...also owns extensive real estate in the south of France, including two Mediterranean islands. Bendor, the smaller one, has hotels, clubs and a convention hall. "Over 300,000 tourists take my boat to Bendor every year," brags Ricard. "That's more than the French Line transports across the Atlantic." The larger island, Embiez, is being developed, with yacht basins, luxury hotels, a casino and theater. Looking well ahead, Ricard grandly calls it "the resort of the year...