David Lebovitz's Blog, page 137
October 31, 2009
Simplify It Sunday
Just taking a breather here and thought I'd share some thoughts as I looked at my crazy Inbox this weekend. I switched to Gmail last year and things just keep moving down as they come in, until they turn the corner and head into the 'older' page (ie: Siberia). Where they get forgotten. So yesterday, I deleted a few messages. As in, a few hundred messages. I don't even recall what many of them were about, or why I was saving them, but invariably a few likely got tossed that I probably...
October 29, 2009
The Top Granola Recipe
I never planned to write about this granola, since both Molly and Cenk did excellent adaptations. Because they are probably sick of me clicking on their sites, I finally jotted it down on a scrap of paper. And since that scrap of paper gets pulled out of my files at least once every other week, I thought that it was simply too good to keep buried away under my piles of paperwork and I'd share it here.
Although I haven't tried the thousands of variations of granola floating around (and ...
October 26, 2009
Paris Pâtisserie Event & Booksigning
This Wednesday, October 28th at 7:30pm, I'll be at the American Library in Paris discussing my favorite topic—dessert!
Continue reading "Paris Pâtisserie Event & Booksigning" »
October 24, 2009
Paris Gastronomy Tour
Doing a culinary tour in Paris is always fun, because not only do I get to meet some new people and make new friends (important...since the old ones keep deserting me), but I get to revisit my favorite places in Paris. And this week, we made a detour in Lyon as well. So there was a lot more to see, and eat...
Lyon is a wonderful city. Kind of a miniature version of Paris, but younger, more spacious, and more relaxed. The people are plus cool, and in less of a rush—perhaps because...
October 21, 2009
La Mélodie du Bonheur
A recent phenomenon in Paris are Broadway shows coming to town.
In the past few years, plays like Grease, The Lion King, and West Side Story (and, bizarrely, Anne Frank, Le Musicial) have arrived amidst a fanfare of happy-go-lucky billboards in the métro. I don't think the words "infectious enthusiasm" or "feel-good musical" are part of the French vocabulary, but pretty soon they might be.
So don't be surprised if you come across a Parisian whistling "Greased Lightning" or "Beauty S...
October 19, 2009
Where to Find the Best Steak Frites in Paris
Alec Lobrano has been writing about the food in Paris for over two decades, and was the Paris correspondent for magazine. When his book, Hungry for Paris came out, I immediately opened to page one and read it cover-to-cover. He's one of the best food writers of our generation and each chapter tells the story of one of his favorite restaurants in Paris. And now, as a result, whenever someone suggests a restaurant for dinner, I'll pull my copy of his book from my shelf and see what...
October 17, 2009
Puerto Cacao
I keep a piece of paper near my front door. On it are places in Paris that I want to visit. When I hear about a place that sounds interesting, on the list it goes. Unfortunately, it seems as soon as I cross one off, a few more get added. And the list gets longer and longer and longer and longer and...
One particular spot that I've had my eye on for too long was Puerto Cacao, located in the farthest part of the city from where I live, requiring more than my limit of two métro changes...
October 14, 2009
Crêpes Dentelles
When I worked at Chez Panisse, we had a customer who would come for dinner several nights a week and eat downstairs in the kitchen. Jean lived by herself in San Francisco and took a cab across the bridge to Berkeley for dinner once or twice a week. When the waiters knew she was coming, they'd set up a small table next to the pastry department and she'd eat there. And because she was a generous soul, she'd treat her regular cabdriver to dinner upstairs in the café.
Other customers would...
October 11, 2009
8 Coping Tips for Living in Paris
For a recent talk where I was asked to give for newcomers to Paris, I decided to share some of my coping strategies for living in a foreign country. I came up with a list of eight things that I do when it all seems too much.
Like this morning, when I woke up and found that before I hit the "Save" button and called it a night, my cable company dropped my connection, which deleted two-thirds of this post.
Fortunately, I'm resilient now, and no longer a stranger to ...
Health Care Tips for Travelers to France
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 go if you need medical attention. Of course, nothing here is meant to be construed as medical advice and you...
