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By Root 1046 0

and I couldn’t get enough of them. I also had an aunt who worked as an editor for a New York publisher, and she gave me a series of books that were the portraits of the lives of a little boy and a little girl in a variety of different European countries. I read the French book so many times it fell apart, but still remember it vividly—the kids lived in Paris but went to Nice to visit their grandparents, who owned a hotel. Their grandmother put a vase of mimosa on the night table in their room and fed them petits farcis. I was desperately jealous. Since reading, eating, and traveling are my compass points, it’s hard to think of a book that hasn’t inspired me, but I especially love Henry James, Proust, Cervantes, and Thomas Hardy, all of whom provoked a fierce desire to inhabit the worlds they described, and I also love Elizabeth David, A. J. Liebling, M. F. K. Fisher, Richard Olney, and Julia Child, in terms of falling in love with French food. I’d also tip my hat to The Cuisine of the Sun (Random House, 1976), a wonderful Niçoise cookbook by Mireille Johnston, and The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola, in the new translation by Mark Kurlansky (Modern Library, 2009), which is still the best gastronomic pornography I’ve ever come across.

Q: As there are quite a number of American expatriates living in Paris, do you see them often, or get together for, say, Thanksgiving?

A: The American community in Paris is smaller now than it once was, because Paris is an expensive city in terms of housing and Asia seems to be attracting a lot of those footloose young types who want to experience another culture these days. Since my partner is French, I live a more French life than many of my expat American friends, some of whom have a tendency to stick together. Thanksgiving is one occasion that we Yanks will get together, and not one of them goes by without a grateful discussion as to why French turkeys are so much better than American ones—they’re not overbred and are raised free-range on a healthy diet that does not include antibiotics or growth hormones. Most American turkey is pretty terrifying. Most American foods are available in Paris these days, but there are still some things I lug back with me from any trip to the United States, including chipotles in adobo sauce, fire-roasted jalapeño peppers, California raisins, cornmeal, and Lipton onion soup mix (for dip).

Q: Which arrondissement do you call home, and if forced to name your favorite café or bistro du coin, what would it be?

A: I live in the ninth arrondissement between the church of La Trinité and Saint-Georges, and the best little bistro in the area is the wonderful Chez Georgette (29 rue Saint-Georges / +33 01 42 80 39 13), a friendly place that does wonderful French home cooking and is very reasonably priced. The café I go to most often is the Café La Rotonde (2 place d’Estienne d’Orves), because it’s just downstairs, the people watching is terrific, and the staff is nice. My two favorite cafés are Le Nemrod (51 rue du Cherche-Midi, in the sixth—they do superb croques-monsieur and -madame, great steak tartare, and their Morgon Vieille Vignes is one of my favorite wines—and the Le Nemours (Place Colette, in the first), because it has a great terrace, good coffee, and is right next to the gorgeous gardens of the Palais Royal.

Q: How often do you cook at home, and what are the cookbooks you use most often?

A: I love to cook and don’t see how anyone can write about food without being a passionate cook. The cookbooks I refer to most often include La Cuisine du marché by Paul Bocuse, Marcella Hazan’s two Italian cookbooks, and James Beard’s American Cookery.

Q: What are some of your favorite day-trip destinations outside of Paris?

A: The medieval city of Troyes, which has the most spectacular collection of stained glass in France, is a superb overnight trip from Paris, and it also has two truly delightful hotels: Le Champ des Oiseaux (champdesoiseaux.com) and La Maison de Rhodes (maisonderhodes.com). La Mignardise in Troyes (lamignardise.net) is a very good contemporary French