FAQ

Here’s a quick overview of my FAQs. Keep reading, just beyond, and you can read lots more down below. If you have a question, it’s likely answered on this page.

Cooking Classes & Internships:
If you’re looking for advice about taking a cooking class in Paris or France, here’s a list of cooking and pastry classes where you’ll find most listed, with links and specialties. I also did a post on finding internships in France, too. As for career advice, because I’m basically unemployable, I’m the wrong person to ask for that.
Room for Dessert and Ripe for Dessert Availability:
Many of you have inquired about the availability of my first two books, which are both out of print. The good news is that my upcoming book, Ready for Dessert, is a compendium of my all-time favorite recipes, including many recipes from those books, which have been completely updated and in standard and metric measurements.
Ice Cream Questions & Answers:
For questions & answers about making ice cream, check my post Tips on Making Ice Cream, where you can post questions and read my responses about ice cream-making. Note that I can’t answer questions about other people’s recipes, and suggest you ask them directly.
Get Togethers:
Because of my various projects and writing, my schedule doesn’t leave time for get-together with visitors—I barely have time to see my friends! But I host get-togethers in Paris & elsewhere, which I post on my blog and Schedule page when they occur. You can also subscribe to my newsletter over in the right sidebar, or my Twitter feed, to be notified of updates.
Restaurant Write-Ups:
Restaurants and shops that I mention on the site are generally places that I recommend, unless otherwise noted. I don’t do traditional “reviews”, which involve research and taking notes while I’m eating (which probably sounds as fun to you as it does to me.) On the site you’ll find impressions of places I’ve been to, and most likely enjoy. You can read my Restaurant Write-Up Policy for further information.
Errors:
Relax. Take a deep breathe. Breathe…breathe.. Because the site is my personal space, I don’t have copyeditors hovering, as I do with my books. The site is a casual, fun place to report on things I find, places I go, and things I’m eating. While I try my darndest to avoid errors, my aging eyes ain’t what they used to be. Especially on one of these newfangled-contraptions you young ‘uns call a “computer.” So while I strive for perfection, I’m bound to mess-up once in a blue moon. I welcome constructive commentary and you’re welcome to shoot me a comment so I can fix it.
Recipe & Product Queries:
I’m unable to assist with questions about recipes that aren’t mine, or products. I suggest you contact the author or company as they’re best-suited to help you out.
Sending Products & Reviews:
If you wish to send me a product, if I do accept it, I may or may not write about it on the site. I appreciate your understanding that this is my personal blog I don’t allow others to influence what gets published here. I don’t accept products in exchange for a positive review or placement.
Food Photography:
If you’re interested in what camera equipment I use & how I take the photos on the blog, you can read the post—My Food Photography Gear.
Finding Canned Chicken Stock in France:
You can’t.

Living In Paris

Q: Why did you move to Paris?

A: Read my book.

Q: Did you speak any French before you moved to Paris?

A: Only one phrase: pain au chocolat. I figured that was enough.

Q: Aren’t Parisians rude?

A: I’ve seen more tourists be rude to Parisians than the opposite. I don’t know if the French have cornered the market on rudeness. Although I’ll admit, sometimes it might seem that way. (And I have the bruises to prove it.)

Q: How long do you plan to live in Paris?

A: About as long as you plan to live where you live now.

Q: How do you stay in shape?

A: I don’t eat junk or highly-processed foods (except M & M’s, but those don’t count…do they?) For the most part, I eat a well-balanced diet and don’t deprive myself of anything. I consume a wide variety of things: real butter, wine, bread, meat, vegetables, fresh fruit, cheese, chocolate, ice cream, and once in a while, a pain au chocolat, but do so in moderate amounts. I avoid stupid fad diets and don’t obsess about what I eat. I do yoga and walk and ride a bike a lot. I believe you can eat whatever you want as long as you walk (or bike) there, and do the same going home.

Q: Ginger or Mary Ann?

A: The professor. Or maybe Little Buddy—if I’ve had a few drinks.

Vacationing in Paris

Q: I’m coming to Paris! Can you give me restaurant or hotel suggestions?

A: Why not? You’ll find many of my personal suggestions already here on the site for hotels, restaurants, and my favorites shops. Search in the Paris Travel Tips as well as My Paris for restaurants and places to eat.

You can also use the search engine for specific suggestions as well as the Categories for shops, bakeries, chocolate shops, and markets.

Q: I’m too lazy to search your blog for tips. Can’t I just ask you?

A: No.

Q: We’re coming to Paris and want to meet you. Can we meet?

A: Unfortunately the three decades I spent working in restaurant kitchens means my social skills are nil. So to spare you the painful experience of sitting through a meal or get-together with me, like the chimps in the zoo, I’m probably best enjoyed at arms-length.

Q: Where are all the outdoor markets in Paris?

A: You can find a complete list of them here.

Q: We have just a short time in Paris. What are things, or places, that we shouldn’t miss?

A: If you have a specific area of interest (say, “Paris ice cream”), use the Search engine at the site, to find results. You’ll also find these posts interesting: 10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn’t Miss in Paris, Rue Montorgueil, and Paris Favorites.

For those of you interested in baking supplies, visit G. Detou. If you’re interested in chocolate or pastry shops, visit my Paris Chocolate & Pastry archives.

Q: We want to book a private tour with you. When are you available?

A: I do not offer day-long chocolate or market tours in Paris. If you’re looking for a tour, you may wish to visit my pals at Context Travel.

I do offer week-long tours once or twice a year and you can read more about them here.

Q: What foods can be brought back from France to the US?

A: Fresh meats, fruits and vegetables are prohibited for sure. Often you can bring back raw-milk cheeses as long as they’re in quantities obviously for personal consumption and not resale. Many cheese shops in Paris will pack them sous vide, cryo-vac’d, for transport, which I highly recommend doing. (There is often a small surcharge for that.) Foods packed in cans are normally fine and some things in jars are, but occasionally meat products in glass, like foie gras, can be iffy. Personally, I’ve not had problems with chocolates, either filled or tablets.

Rules change frequently, and without notice, but here’s the latest information that I know of for bringing foods home from abroad.

There’s also an excellent article in USA Today, which has more tips and helpful links.

Q: Do you know those guys from Chez Panisse who do the supper club in Paris?

A: Yes, I do. You can get more information about Chien Lunatique and contact them here. They are part-time residents of Paris so they may not respond to emails if bookings are unavailable.

There is also another supper club in Paris, Hidden Kitchen, which does private dinners as well.

Q: We’re looking for romantic restaurants. Any suggestions?

A: Oh-la-la! You can find suggestions on the site here.

Q: Do you have any recommendations for cooking classes and schools in Paris?

A: You can find my list of cooking schools & classes, as well as wine-tastings here.

Q: Can you give some advice about the professional cooking schools in Paris?

A: I only attended one, so I can’t offer advice about those I haven’t attended. But there’s a pretty good discussion on eGullet from folks who’ve attended the others.

Q: Can you recommend a private chef in Paris?

A: Since I haven’t had the need to hire a private chef here, I don’t know that many. But you may wish to inquire with Braden and Laura of Hidden Kitchen.

Q: We’re visiting French friends. What are good gifts to bring them from the states?

A: In spite of the fact that we might think they’d get a kick out of things like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or Cheese-Whiz, they don’t share our nostalgic affection for American ‘comfort foods’. I recommend dried sour cherries or cranberries, macadamia nuts, as well as interesting foods like bean-to-bar chocolate, dried Rancho Gordo heirloom beans, or a locally produced honey.

Q: Can we use our mobile phones in Paris?

A: Not being much of a techie, it’s best to contact your provider at home to ask if your phone works abroad.

You can also buy a sans abonnement or sans engagement phone (no subscription, called ‘Mobicarte’ with Orange), where you purchase the phone for around 30€, then add minutes by buying the numbers which you punch into the phone at Tabacs and phone stores. If you travel to Paris frequently, you can use the phone forever and just add time whenever you come back. Although you lose your phone number if you don’t use it after a certain amount of time, often 6 months, but you can get another number on your next trip.

France Telecom/Orange has also introduced a temporary mobile phone, which comes pre-loaded with minutes and a personalized phone number. These are available at France Telecom and Orange stores, as well as in the news kiosks at most airports and train stations. Note that with French cell providers, you only use minutes with outgoing calls, not incoming ones.

The three major phone companies which provide mobile service are Orange Mobicarte (France Telecom), La Carte at SFR, and Nomad at Bouygues: each has plenty of shops across France and can sell you an inexpensive, reusable phone that you can load up with minutes as you need them. Virgin Mobile is making inroads into France as well with similar service. There are mobile phone shops all over Paris, such as Phone House, as well as in the major department and electronics stores such as Darty and FNAC.

You can read more at: Will My Cell Phone Work in France? There are also links to SIM cards you can use in Europe.

More Tips For Paris Travel

Chez Panisse

Q: How long did you work at Chez Panisse?

A: I started in 1983 and worked there until 1998, but I took a few years away to be the pastry chef at Bruce Cost’s Monsoon restaurant and to consult. I was there for a total of 13 years.

Q: What’s Alice Waters really like?

A: Alice employed me for many years and as a cook, I could not ask for a better place to do that than Chez Panisse. Alice made sure the ingredients we used were the best available, and unlike many other well-known chef’s today, she isn’t interested in endorsing products or capitalizing on her name, except to promote sustainable agriculture and her various causes through the Chez Panisse Foundation.

It’s difficult running a restaurant and café with over a hundred employees, and I give Alice immense great credit for being able to keep up the restaurant’s high standards and for putting her philosophy on the plate day-after-day. You can read more I wrote about Alice here.

Living and Working in Paris

Q: I want to move to Paris. Can you give me any advice?

A: The process is complicated and time-consuming, much more so than you can possibly imagine. The first step is to visit the web site for the French Consulate which is nearest to you. Follow the instructions, but be prepared for things not to go quite as you might expect. It’s a long, convoluted process, but basically, the first step is applying in the United States if you’re an American.

You can find some information here (in French).

Once that’s approved, when you come to France, you have to re-apply using the same paperwork. Photocopy everything at least five times and always carry along everything you might need for all your appointments; photos, bank statements, lease, electricity and phone bills, proof of health insurance and finances, birth certificate, etc…all translated. I never hand over everything at once, but instead hand over each document as requested since they will invariably ask you for something you don’t have. (And never, ever throw anything away, no matter how trivial you think it is. Someone is certain to ask you for it later.)

You’ll need to make an appointment at the Préfecture de Police after your arrival in Paris, which can take months, and will certainly be an eye-opening experience. Plan on things not going quite as anticipated, and remember there’s a reason the French have so much red wine at their disposal. You’ll need it, too.

Once you get your Carte de Sejour you’ll need to re-apply each year; the rules and qualifications changing each time depending on who’s behind the counter when you show up. There are no exact answers and the process changes frequently. If I had more definite answers, I’d probably have a bit more hair instead of having pulled it all out.

There’s an excellent write up of the rather perplexing process over at Chez Loulou and you might want to take my quiz, Should I Move to France? 28 Questions to Ask Yourself.

For information about finding work in France, you can find good advice at Secrets of Paris.

Cooking Schools

Q: I want to be a pastry chef. Should I go to culinary school?

A: In general, I think it’s best for you to go work somewhere and see if you like the work before committing yourself financially, or otherwise, to any program. But you can read my post Should You Go To Cooking School? for much more on that topic.

Q: Did you go to cooking school?

A: I attended two cooking schools in Europe after I’d worked in restaurants for many years. One was Ecole Lenôtre near Paris, and the other was Callebaut Academy to study chocolate in Belgium.

Both programs are intended for professionals and I highly-recommend them.

For home cooks, you’ll find a list of cooking classes in Paris here and a discussion of professional programs in Paris here.

Products and Ads On The Site

Q: I’m looking for a certain product that you mentioned on the site in America, or elsewhere. How can I find out where to get it?

A: When I mention a product, I try to put a link to where it can be obtained it in the US, since that’s where many of my readers are. You can check out my post How to Find Foods and Other Items Mentioned on the Site which offers tips and places to check for certain items.

Obviously I don’t know where things will be available in every particular country, but I am open to any generous offers to come visit! (Business-class, please.)

Q: Can our company send you a product to try and review on your site?

A: In general, I only try products that are related to what I do, which share a similar philosophy to mine. (If you take a moment to read through various blog entries, you’ll get some idea of that.) I love trying new things, especially from small companies, and I love trying new chocolates, but I never commit to writing about them. I appreciate your not insisting that I do.

My philosophy is to only recommend products that I like and use personally. I don’t often write negative reviews since I think most people are trying their best and it’s hard to criticize them. (Although there are exceptions.) I’m not paid to recommend anything by anyone, so things I write about on the site and blog are products I know from my personal experience.

Please note that I live in Paris, which is in France, which should be evident, but isn’t to some pr folks out there.

I strongly urge marketers to read Elise Bauer’s article, Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing to Bloggers which gives guidance on how to pitch products to food bloggers.

Q: Why are there ads on your site?

A: Most of the ads are for my books, which I hope readers will buy…and use!; that’s how I make a living. There are also Google Ads and some from Martha Stewart’s Circle and Platefull, of which I’m a member. All are clearly marked and I try to keep them as unobtrusive as possible. The ads make the site possible and pays for site hosting and storage fees, web design, and updates to the site.

For more information, read the disclosure statement.

The Blog and Blogging

Q: How come I can’t leave a comment?

A: If comments have been turned off, it’s because I’ve answered all of the questions that I possibly could about the recipe in the comments already.

Q: You don’t always write positive things about Paris on the site. Don’t you like Paris or French people?

A: Of course I like Paris. Why would I live somewhere I didn’t like?

On the blog I write about my life in the French capital, the good and not-so-great. Like any city, Paris has its good side and its flaws and for those of us living here, we have to deal with them all. It’s a great place, but is a contemporary city grappling with urbanization, bureaucracy, immigration, strikes, and globalization, and is trying to come to terms with all of those things.

While many visitors come to Paris for a week and savor the chocolates, the cafés, the museums, and eat in bistros, living here presents a variety of challenges and because I live here, I write about them as well. There are plenty of entries which highlight the amazing cheeses, breads, bistros, and delicious confections around town, in addition to my tangles with the cable company, banks, and other facets of living in a modern city.

If you’re looking for stories about shopping for shoes or handbags, strolling on the Left Bank, drinking a €7 café crème on the Champs Elysées, taking a boat down the Seine, or falling in love with a Frenchman and living happily ever after, there are lots of good books and blogs which cover those subjects much better than I do.

Q: Why don’t you have a print option for recipes on this site?

A: Because the site was started in 1999, there are nearly a thousand entries. At this point, if I was to add a ‘print’ option, I would have to go back and re-format each and every post, which would likely take me weeks and weeks and weeks. (If that sounds as much fun to you as it does to me, then you understand.) You can use websites such as Print What You Like (or another one), which allows you to print web pages easily. Either that, or I have to start a new blog.

Q: I left a comment and it was deleted. What the f$&%k!?

A: I subscribe to the comment policy espoused here. And reserve the right to delete or edit comments. Please remember this isn’t a democracy—it’s my dictatorship. Dissenting opinions are fine, and constructive comments are always welcome. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me (although it would sure be nice…), but please, don’t be a dick.

Click here to read more about my comment policy.

Q: What kind of camera and photo gear do you use?

A: I’ve listed all my gear, and a few tips, at my post: My Food Photography Gear.

Q: Can I use one of the photos on your site or Flickr page on my site, or in our magazine?

A: Because the blog is protected by a copyright, you shouldn’t use anything from my blog without my permission. Same with images from my Flickr page. In general, I may let others use an image provided they’re not for commercial, profitable purposes, and give appropriate credit and a link. Please ask first.

If I do give permission to use an image for a profit-making venture (magazines, newspapers, etc), I expect some kind of compensation unless credit is applied to one of my books. In any event—please ask before using any pictures, images, or text from my blog or Flickr page.

Q: Why are there typos in your blog entries? Can’t you spell?

A: I write for a living, and when I do an assignment for a book, for which I get paid, I have the luxury of taking the time to proof and re-check my copy before it’s submitted for publication. The blog is intended to be lighthearted and a place for me to share my stories about life in Paris. Since I do this for fun, I can’t give it the same attention that I do for my paid work.

Lighten up…it’s a blog!

(If you’re interested in error-free text, buy one of my books.)

Q: How do I get added to your links page?

A: As you can see, there’s lots of links already there. It started out mostly being friends, but it’s blossomed into a long list of food blogs that I wanted to share as well. At this point, I’m not adding any more links.

So if you’re not on the links page, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you, nor does it mean I don’t like your blog. There’s plenty of blogs I read and enjoy, but aren’t necessarily on my links page. A good way to get readers is to leave a good comment, and put your URL in the appropriate field, where the site automatically links to it.

Q: I want to start a food blog, or make mine better. Can you give me any suggestions?

A: A blog of any sort is a personal diary so what works for me may not work for you.
A general rule would be to look closely at blogs you like and read regularly, see what they do, and figure out why you find them interesting. Is it your humor, your photos, or your recipes? Take inspiration from others, but make it your own.

A few things you may wish to concentrate on are: design of the site, good content, and expressing your voice. The most important advice I can give is to edit.

Most writing is improved when it’s distilled down to the best nuggets: less is more. On the internet, people have limited time to read, and to me, a post should be easily readable in 2-3 minutes.

If I had to name five steps to make your blog better:

Get your own domain name
Don’t use the same blog template everyone else is using
Buy a DSLR camera and learn how to use it
Make friends with other bloggers, network with them, and link to them
Break up large blocks of text with pictures

Still, I advise you not to take it too seriously. It’s not a popularity contest and if it’s not fun, don’t do it.

You might wish to read my article, Do’s and Don’ts About Food Blogging for Cookbook Authors, whether you are an author or not.

You can get helpful tips at these links:

Q: I want to write a cookbook. Can you help me?

A: Sure…click here to read my tips.

Q: How can I contact you?

A: There’s a form on my About page that you can use.

Q: I sent you a message and never got a response. What kind of jerk are you?

A: Unfortunately I’m not always able to answer each message as I’d like to, so I apologize. Also sometimes I can’t provide an answer. I do read all my messages and appreciate any and all feedback.

Q: I don’t agree with something you wrote on your blog. What should I do about it?

A: While I wish that everyone agreed with me all the time, unfortunately that doesn’t always happen. These are just my opinions and ramblings and I welcome constructively-written, friendly counter-opinions in the comments area. I will delete any personal attacks or insane remarks…unless they’re especially well-written.

Hey, I’m just a cookie baker and what I say isn’t worth getting anyone’s knickers in a knot.

Q: Can I stalk you?

A: Not unless you’re Toni Collette or Justin Timberlake.