About

Photo by Greg Gorman

David Lebovitz received much of his training at Alice Waters’ restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. He spent over twelve years in the pastry department working with Lindsey Shere, creating desserts to compliment the regional menus which changed each day to reflect the sustainability and beauty of the extraordinary fruits, nuts, and farm-fresh organic dairy products available at the restaurant.

David was named one of the “Top Five Pastry Chefs in the Bay Area” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and he’s received critical acclaim in such publications as Bon Appétit, Chocolatier, Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Food+Wine, Gourmet, Condé Nast Traveler, Cook’s Illustrated, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New York Times, People, Saveur, Sunset, and USA Today.

David has appeared on national television programs such as Gourmet magazine’s Diary of a Foodie on PBS, the Discovery Channel, NBC’s Today Show, and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel.

His first book, the best-selling Room For Dessert (HarperCollins), was honored as a finalist for an IACP/KitchenAid Cookbook Award. The New York Times called Room For Dessert “brilliantly appealing (with) recipes so good it becomes clear what a master baker he is” and the San Francisco Examiner hailed Room For Dessert as an “instant classic”. His highly-praised second book, Ripe For Dessert (HarperCollins), features sensational delicious classic and contemporary desserts with fruit.

David’s book, The Great Book of Chocolate (Ten Speed), is the ultimate guide to the new and exciting world of chocolate. The Great Book of Chocolate was cited as one of the top books of the year by The New York Times and Food+Wine magazine.

The Perfect Scoop (Ten Speed) is the best-selling guide to ice cream and frozen desserts, and contains hundred of recipes for ice creams, sorbets, and granitas… plus all the deliciously gooey, nutty, and chocolaty things that get mixed inside and drizzled over the top.

His latest book, The Sweet Life in Paris, is a food-based memoir, filled with humorous and delicious stories about Paris with French-inspired recipes that are both sweet and savory.

His culinary education includes learning the art of chocolate at Callebaut College in Belgium and Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona in Tain l’Hermitage, and advanced coursework in baking and the art of confectionery at the renowned Ecole Lenôtre in Paris. David leads culinary tours of Paris, which focus on chocolate, ice cream, breads, and the pastries of France.

David has been living in Paris since 2002 and his next book, Ready for Dessert, is planned for release in April 2010.

You can also find David on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.

Please read the following before sending a message…

If you have questions about making ice cream or frozen desserts, post them here and I will respond in that forum, to share the frozen love with others.

For queries about specific products, I recommend contacting the manufacturer as they’re best equipped to provide you with assistance.

While I appreciate all the upstart food-related websites that are springing up and seeking contributors, I’m content to continue posting recipes and stories only on my blog at this time.

For questions about using my recipes on your website or blog, you can read the post I did on Recipe Attribution, and follow the guidelines there.

For the love of all things sacred, please don’t use this form to send pr-related notices about celebrity chef cook-offs, culinary events in the United States (because I don’t live there), and goofy products like beer-flavored toothpaste and low-carb chocolate. If you’re certain that my readers would be interested in your product, you’re welcome to advertise on the site via Martha Stewart, my advertising network.

If you have questions about a specific recipe or post, leave your question in the comment field of that post and I will answer it there. If the comments are closed, that means that most questions about that recipe have been asked and answered.

This site does not have a ‘print’ option for technical reasons. Sites such as print what you like offer print-friendly page options.

For queries about Paris restaurants, blogging and cookbook writing, cooking classes, transportation, or hotels, or would like career or internship advice, you’ll find comprehensive answers to those on my FAQ page or at My Paris.

If you have media-related questions about The Sweet Life in Paris, please contact Ellen Folan at Random House.

Answers to almost all other queries can be found in my fabulous FAQs or My Paris pages.

Thanks!

-David

If you send a message and don’t get a response, it’s likely that the answer to your query can be found in the aforementioned FAQs or My Paris pages. (We pastry people tend to be meticulously thorough, so look there first.) Due to the volume of mail, and work-related commitments, I’m unable to answer all messages and I do apologize if I’m unavailable to personally respond to all of them.

Thanks!