Kir Menu
Maybe we shouldn’t count out le Kir quite yet. (# 2). Although I’ll take a pass on one spiked with violet, or à la rose.
Maybe we shouldn’t count out le Kir quite yet. (# 2). Although I’ll take a pass on one spiked with violet, or à la rose.
The odd-looking thing arrived in my mailbox recently, and I had no idea what it was. So I spent some time spinning the wheel around and around, and around and around. And around and around.
If you go to Lyon, you’ll find Saint Marcellin pretty much everywhere. It’s the best-known cheese from that region, and the user friendly-sized disks are inevitably piled high at each and every cheese shop you step in to. Locals bake them at home and slide the warm disks onto salads, and I’ve not been to a restaurant in that city that didn’t have Saint Marcellin…
I recently spoke at Bloom Where You’re Planted, a program intended to introduce newcomers to the sometimes perplexing differences of life abroad. I stayed after my talk for a seminar on French health care. While I was familiar with some of the information, some of you might not be, especially those who are traveling to Paris. This post includes numbers to call and places to…
I’m sure I’ve caused more than my share of near automobile accidents when I see a signpost by the edge of a road pointing towards a brocante or Depot Vente. After slamming on the brakes, I do a San Francisco-style U-turn, backing up to head into the parking lot. (The week I moved to San Francisco, my roommates, who were natives, told me; “Whenever you…
This place has it all: location, fresh seafood, and best of all, beaucoup de frites. After visiting the fantastic market in La Tremblade, we drove out to the where the boats bring in the oysters, and settled in to our table at La Bonne Renommée. Since my friends were regulars, they knew exactly what they wanted and barely glanced at the menus. But I was…
Over the years, a number of people have asked if it was possible to bring a KitchenAid mixer from the United States to Europe, and use it here. I certainly couldn’t live without my 5-quart mixer, and since they’re less expensive in America than they are abroad (because of the electrical modifications and shipping), many folks, naturally, want to know if they can bring their…
At a recent book event, there was a little Q & A session after I chatted and read from my new book. The only guidelines were that I told people that two questions were off limits. One was; “Why did you move to Paris?”, and the other “How long are you planning on living in Paris?” Because I get asked them at least six times…
Aside from the massive safe in the Banque de France, probably the toughest place to get in to in France is the Ecole de Grand Chocolat Valrhona in the little town of Tain l’Hermitage. Admission to the professional cooking program I attended is by invitation only, and several times of the year, pastry chefs and chocolatiers from all over the world come to Valrhona to…
Join me on my Spring 2026 book tour for my latest book, The Great Book of Chocolate