In this episode of the third season of our podcast Chemins, we welcome Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon. Both are co-founders of La Grenouille à Grande Bouche, a hybrid project combining a culinary magazine and participatory restaurant. Launched in 2019, the project did not survive the pandemic and ended in 2022. Yet almost a year later, the journalists are back with Les 3 Ours, a living news media co-founded with Julie Lallouët-Geffroy. In this episode of Chemins, Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon share their experience: how to bounce back after failure, preserve a collective spirit, and reinvent themselves through new hybrid models?
- The launch of La Grenouille à Grande Bouche: a culinary and editorial adventure
In 2019, Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon, alongside Fanny Amand, launched La Grenouille à Grande Bouche. This hybrid project included a participatory restaurant and a culinary magazine that explored gastronomy from social and cultural perspectives.
« Initially, Big Mouth Frog wasn't meant to be a magazine. The original project revolved around the relationship between writing and food. But the idea of a magazine emerged as a way to let people participate differently, the way they were already doing at the restaurant. » – Louise Katz
The review was participatory: "Some of the columns were written with volunteers. We had a participatory interview format, where everyone could contribute questions. It was very collaborative." – Nathanaël Simon
- A project disrupted by the pandemic
The restaurant opens its doors in January 2020, a few weeks before the start of the pandemic. Lockdowns, curfews, and remote work quickly disrupt operations. In March 2022, the project comes to a halt.
« We experienced the ending like a loss. Someone who'd been through business closings told me: "Get ready to go through all the stages of grief." And it's true. We went through anger, sadness, acceptance. » – Nathanaël Simon
" There was a real heaviness to it. With Covid, a family loss, a young daughter to manage, and the business in crisis, it was all too much. The closure was also a relief. " – Louise Katz
- A fragile business model
La Grenouille à Grande Bouche relied on a model where the restaurant provided steady revenue to finance the magazine, which generated more erratic cash flows. This system proved inadequate when facing external uncertainties.
« We didn't know anything about the press. We were journalists, but we had no idea how to distribute a magazine. At first, we'd call every bookstore ourselves one by one with a kind of naivety, convinced we'd be welcomed with open arms right away. When the difficulties piled up, we felt like we were constantly chasing after a train that had already taken off at full speed. » – Nathanaël Simon
« We had this incredible naïveté. We thought: if the product is beautiful, people will come. But selling 4,000 copies of a magazine is huge. We realized that far too late. » – Louise Katz
- Managing emotions through an abrupt ending
The end of The Wide-Mouthed Frog was marked by a series of intense administrative and emotional steps, experienced over a very short period of time.
« We got our first warning in January 2022: we weren't sure we could pay the following month's salaries. After that, everything snowballed very quickly. On February 10, we realized we had ceased payments, and by February 23, we were in front of the commercial court. (…) It's brutal. Once the decision is made, things accelerate. By April, it was all over: the premises emptied, the equipment sold at auction. That's when I felt the full force of what we had just been through » – Nathanaël Simon
The end of the project required careful management of employees, volunteers, members, and readers.
« It was difficult to announce the end. We started by preparing the teams: "The situation is complicated, we're looking for solutions, but there may not be any." Then we had to call each freelancer, each service provider, explain why they wouldn't be paid. It's like a death: there are announcements to make, paperwork to fill out, difficult calls to make. (…) We did everything we could to find positions for our interns, including calling other companies or media outlets. The idea was to make sure no one was left behind » – Louise Katz
« We decided to own it completely. We communicated about our closure, gave interviews to explain why it was over. We sent a special newsletter to our subscribers. It was grueling, but people understood. Some service providers were angry, but many were kind. » – Nathanaël Simon
- A fresh start with Les 3 Ours
In 2023, Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon, joined by Julie Lallouët-Geffroy, launch Les 3 Ours. The project offers journalistic shows, called "presstacles". (Editor's note: the team has since adopted the name "journal intime") in Brittany. These performances combine theatrical staging and journalistic storytelling to offer a format of live information.
« This time, we're taking our time. We're in a starting year. We're testing, reflecting, learning how live performance works. For example, we've discovered that you need a lighting plot, a stage manager… It's new for us, but we're surrounding ourselves with the right people. » – Nathanaël Simon
Their first show, presented on January 24, 2025, will be followed by three to four performances through June.
" We didn't rush into it. First we studied the economics of live entertainment, learned the basics: ticketing, programming, lighting. It's a completely different way of thinking compared to publishing. We want each step to be done properly. We tinker much less. We don't work with people who are just discovering their profession, because we know we can't all be beginners at the same time. " – Louise Katz
- The importance of your surroundings
In difficult times, Louise and Nathanaël became aware of the importance of relying on their network and those around them, whether to overcome crises or to rebuild after a setback.
« When we announced the end of La Grenouille, we received enormous support. François-Régis Gaudry, our patron, called me two seconds after my email to ask: "Are you okay? What can I do for you?" He even brought one of our interns onto his team afterward. That kind of gesture carries you through, even in the worst moments. » – Nathanaël Simon
" Our team and friends were also incredible. After the closure, they organized a farewell party. They painted an entire wall with covers from our magazines. We didn't go through it alone, and that was deeply comforting. " – Louise Katz
To go further
- La Grenouille à Grande Bouche was structured as a cooperative, more specifically as a SCIC (Collective Interest Cooperative Society). This business model emphasizes collective and democratic governance, where different types of members (employees, volunteers, users, public/private partners) can participate in capital and strategic decisions. In the media sector, other companies have adopted a similar form: SCOPs (Cooperative and Participatory Societies), where employees hold the majority of capital (at least 51%) and actively participate in decision-making. In France, Alternatives Économiques, Rue89 Lyon, Le Crestois and also Fracas have adopted this model. What does it enable?
- From legal procedures to accounting, including the development of the business plan, Augustin Naepels, chief executive officer of Les Jours, details the essential steps to launch your media outlet, with an emphasis on management.
- What are the criteria for press aid grants? What public subsidies can you apply for to support your media project? Answers in this practical guide.
- Readers' clubs, societies of friends… There are several ways to bring your readers together and get them to participate in building your media outlet.
