Tex-Mex and Parisian cuisine couldn’t be more different, and it seems like nobody knows that better than San Antonio’s resident Frenchman, Spurs icon Victor Wembanyama. While on break before the NBA season starts up again, the 7’4″ center-forward said he misses his home country’s food while living in Texas.
During a recent interview with Brut, during his off-time in France, the player talked about his craving for French fare. He had said in a previous interview that what he misses about France is the food — not even a specific dish, but all of French cuisine. In France, there’s a strong culture of “gastronomy,” which isn’t just a love of food but the whole study and practice of good eats — down to the ingredients, the techniques used and the experience of eating. Rather than scarfing down a quick meal in your car, gastronomy is about slowing down to smell, taste and savor each bite.
The interviewer asked Wembanyama if he has finally found a Texan dish in San Antonio that suits him (bear with us on the translation, a rough mix of a few years of study checked against online translation). To that, Wemby replies, “What? No.” He continues, adding that everything that suits him are products that are imported. Then, he laughingly says that’s not exactly true, as there are quite a few cool restaurants around. (By the way, “cool” in French is just “cool.”)
He said while there are a lot of cool restaurants, he isn’t too sure that he’d go so far as to call them Texan dishes. Plus, he said he still misses French food just as much as he did in that previous interview. We don’t blame him — he did grow up near Paris, and nothing hits like a nostalgic dish you grew up eating. As for what he misses most about French food, it’s its quality.
If you’ve been missing the team as we have, the 2026-27 season is almost here. The preseason officially kicks off at home on October 8 against the Atlanta Hawks. Meanwhile, the regular season is another home opener, this time against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 20. The full season schedule will be released on Thursday, August 13.
Dining and Cooking