Dining Out and About
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Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Ah, Nice — it is very, very nice. (How many times do you think that pun has been made in the history of the world?) I felt very lucky to spend a long weekend in this Côte d’Azur town by the sea, soaking up the Mediterranean light, skipping stones across the sea and eating socca. [...]
Butter in Brittany
Friday, April 1st, 2011Wandering around Brittany this week, I made an important discovery. Butter is so ingrained in the culture of Finistère — a département in the extreme west of France — that the town of Quimper named a square after the stuff: Place au Beurre. Historically, this cobblestone square hosted the village market; today it’s home to [...]
My very own carciofi
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011I don’t think it’s a secret that I like love am hopelessly addicted to the artichoke pizza at Pizza Chic, with its crisp/chewy crust spread with artichoke purée and topped with arugula salad and shaved parmesan. Alas, at 19€ a pie, it’s a little too, well, chic. But then I started thinking: Arugula, parmesan, artichoke spread? Just how [...]
Water, water everywhere
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011When I wrote about being denied tap water at a Paris restaurant, I never imagined it would spark such a hullaballoo. But 32 comments later, it’s clear that I’m not the only one who’s thirsty around here. Imagine my surprise a few days ago when my dining companion, Elizabeth, called to tell me she’d received a mysterious [...]
Not a drop to drink
Thursday, February 17th, 2011Yesterday I went out for lunch with a friend I’ll call Elizabeth. We were the first customers at a neighborhood restaurant and we ordered an entrée + plat for Elizabeth, a plat + dessert for me. And then the server paused with a flourish. “Qu’est-ce que vous voulez boire?” he asked. I rarely drink [...]
North African in Paris
Friday, February 4th, 2011One of the (many) nice things about living in Paris is the splash of North African culture that brightens the city’s bland Frenchness. You can sip mint tea at La Grande Mosquée, have your dry skin scrubbed away at a hammam, or — my favorite — sink into sharp flavors: vibrant spices, or tangy preserved lemons. I’ve yet [...]
Adventures in bouillabaisse (and more!)
Thursday, December 9th, 2010Port cities are the best, aren’t they? A salty melange of cultures, a proximity to the sea, vigor, diversity, a gritty crackle in the air… I felt it in Marseille, where a thousand years of seafaring has given way to a vibrant food scene that mixes the cuisines of the Mediterranean — among them, North [...]
Vienna
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010Even the name is lovely, isn’t it? Vienna. It conjures up the Old World, elegant buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and afternoons filled with coffee and strudel. At least, that’s what I was hoping to find. It turns out, I also discovered schnitzel, sausages, sandwiches and — it being the season –Christkindlmarkts around almost every corner. In [...]
Recent restaurants
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010Salut, mes amis! First of all, I wanted to thank you all for your kind support of last night’s reading at Shakespeare and Co. I felt honored to speak to a packed house (it was the free wine, wasn’t it?) and I loved seeing so many friends, old and new. I could also feel the [...]
Restaurants I have loved (or liked)
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010Salut, mes amis! Despite a recent spate of homecooking and baking (muffins, tart, and cake in the past three weeks — are hens sprouting teeth?!), I have been fulfilling my responbilities as your faithful Paris blogger. Here’s a little roundup of restaurant discoveries to prove it. Where: Spring (6 rue Bailleul, 1er) With: Adventurous gastronomes: Anna, Serge [...]
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