Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [122]
Paris (Again) (Number 60, Winter 2002) features a fantastic and interesting annotated address book that covers Paris and examines French food, land, culture, the parable of the sauce spoon, the advantages of fashion, bread, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, kitchen tools, meat, open-air markets, pastry, restaurants formal and informal, spices, and wine—with an in-depth look at croissants.
In Paris (or What is French Food?), Part I: Posing the Question and the Classic Parisian Baguette (Number 45, Winter 1998), Behr asks, “What today remains distinctly French about the food in Paris?” and he embarks on a search for real French bread. Part II: More Answers and Places that Are Truly French (Number 46, Spring 1998) offers recommendations for some good food-related addresses in Paris and poses a final question: “How long will French food last?”
Check out the Art of Eating Web site (artofeating.com) to learn more about interesting topics such as dark chocolate in Paris, new Paris bistros, wines of the Loire and of Anjou, Champagne, and foie gras, and more. A subscription is the best way to regularly get the magazine, but copies are sold at some retail stores, such as Whole Foods and Kitchen Arts & Letters.
“If you’re an oyster eater, the first thing to do is head for Huîtrerie Régis. It’s at 3 rue Montfaucon in the sixth arrondissement, a short walk from the Mabillon Métro station. Paris is filled with restaurants and cafés selling oysters, but this one is special. It’s tiny, decorated in all white, and dead serious: the minimum order allowed is a dozen oysters per person. Whether you walk in the door liking oysters or loving them, you will walk out feeling like you understand them. They’re impeccable here, fat and shiny with a flavor that rings in your mouth like a bell.
“After you eat your oysters, if it’s nice outside, take a walk. I love the smell of Paris, and walking is the best way to catch it. It changes from season to season, but it’s particularly fine in late spring, before the heat comes, when the air is light and quick. The city smells then like a mix of croissants in mid-bake, car exhaust, new grass, and roses, the ones waiting on the sidewalk outside every flower shop. It’s not a perfect smell, and sometimes it’s not even a good smell, but it’s resolutely Paris. It’s the first thing I notice when I arrive and the thing I miss the most when I leave.”
—Molly Wizenberg, food writer, author of A Homemade Life, columnist for Bon Appétit, and co-owner of the restaurant Delancey, in Seattle
David Lebovitz
As mentioned earlier, David Lebovitz’s award-winning blog (davidlebovitz.com) is a great resource for travelers to Paris, especially those with culinary interests. Lebovitz is a former pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and the author of The Great Book of Chocolate (2004), The Perfect Scoop (2007), and Ready for Dessert (2010), all published by Ten Speed Press, and The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway, 2009). His blog includes listings for his favorite places to eat in Paris as well as his favorite dining and travel guides; even better, he offers some excellent essays that I highly recommend (type these into the search feature): “10 Common Ordering Mistakes People Make in Paris,” “10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn’t Miss in Paris,” “Tipping in France and Paris,” “Romantic Restaurants in Paris,” “Where Is the Best Duck Confit in Paris?” and “Tips for Vegetarian Dining in Paris.” Lebovitz also conducts chocolate and gastronomy tours in Paris, which sell out immediately (or so it seems). I wish he offered these more frequently; if you’ve been fortunate enough to secure a reservation, I’m sure you’ll agree!
Counter Culture
The Success of Breaking the Rules
NAOMI BARRY
NAOMI BARRY WAS Gourmet’s first resident correspondent in Paris, and in Remembrance of Things Paris, Ruth Reichl opines that Barry “may be the most underappreciated restaurant writer of all time.” Reichl continues by saying, “Reading fifty-year-old restaurant reviews would not normally be much fun; it takes