An Entrepreneurial American Couple Conquer Paris' Food Scene With a little experience and their own money an American couple opens a wine bar and restaurant in the City of Light.

When Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian went to Paris in 2007, the couple thought they were taking a three-month business research trip.

Perkins had an English lit degree and experience cooking at Seattle restaurants. Adrian, just out of college, had a psychology job that didn't suit her. So they sold their belongings and left for the City of Light. Not as tourists, exactly, but more like entrepreneurs-without-portfolio. They calculated that their money would last about 90 days. They'd scout around, eat some good meals and probably return home with a long-term plan.

"It's five years later," Adrian said when I saw her recently behind the bar at Verjus, their wildly successful restaurant off the Palais Royal."We're still here."