Sur ma table


Time for tisane

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The French love their coffee, it is true, drunk in the morning with lots of milk, or in tiny cups after meals. But doesn’t the caffeine bother them? Don’t they ever have trouble sleeping? In a word, yes.
In fact, I’ve discovered that if there’s any drink the French are as passionate about as coffee, it’s […]

French Frozen

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

It’s taken me over a year, but I think I’ve finally cottoned onto the French secret to eating well at home. Is it shopping at the farmer’s market every day? Making the daily rounds of butcher, baker, and green grocer? Lovingly slaving over a hot stove, preparing delicious and nutritious meals every night? Ha — […]

Cookie party!

Monday, December 14th, 2009

I’ve tried to ignore the signs, but even someone as faintly Scrooge-like as myself can’t deny it: Christmas is here. With pine boughs decorating shop windows, and stores open on Sunday (they’re allowed special dispensation during the month of December), bells are jingling and so are cash registers. Two things that make me thankful to live in […]

Spring has sprung forth

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Does Paris need another gourmet food boutique? You betch yer hot dog, says the American-chef-who-took-Paris-by-storm, Daniel Rose. Last night, he celebrated the arrival of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau, as well as the opening of the Spring Boutique in the 1st arrondissement, with a wine-tasting (photo above). By the way, the long-awaited new location of Spring restaurant will […]

Vacation from cooking: Pinna, Italian traiteur

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

You know I love cooking, and I especially love cooking in Provence. For the past few summers, our vacation has consisted of renting a house in the hill village of Bonnieux, in the Luberon region of Provence. There’s a big kitchen, which means I can chop, stir, season, and concoct to my heart’s content. But […]

Enfin, Pierre Hermé

Monday, October 27th, 2008

After 2+ months of living in Paris, last week I finally visited the famed pâtisserie, Pierre Hermé. So much has been written about this Star of Sweets, this Prince of Pastry, that I don’t think I can contribute much to the Everest-size mountain of adulation that already exists. (Just in case you’ve been living in a […]

A Tale of three cookware shops

Friday, October 10th, 2008

I’d heard so many raves about E. Dehillerin, the celebrated Parisian cookware shop, that I couldn’t wait to go there for a good nose-round. First of all, I needed cheesecloth (étamine, étamine, étamine!). I also wanted to investigate steamer baskets, and, well, who knows what other treasures I might discover? And so, armed with my very best […]

Gourmet addresses

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Here’s an interesting article from today’s Le Figaroscope (which, admittedly, is the only French journalism I read). It’s called Notre sélection d’adresses gourmandes and it lists the top five boulangeries, poissonneries, boucheries, fromagers and charcuteries in the city. 

Not too many surprises here (Barthelemy and Quatrehomme for cheese, Pierre Hermé, Dalloyau, and Ladurée for pastries, Poissonnerie du Dôme […]

Digestif glasses

Friday, January 18th, 2008

I have a new shopping obsession: Washington Consignment, which is close (dangerously close) to our apartment. I bought these crystal digestif glasses there last week for $20. Aren’t they charming? Perfect for an after dinner sip of eau-de-vie. The shop gets new items all the time so you never know what adorable things you’ll find — a […]