*From the New York Times bestselling author of My Paris Kitchen and
L'Appart, a deliciously funny, offbeat, and irreverent look at the
city of lights, cheese, chocolate, and other confections.
Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris ever
since he first visited the city and after a nearly two-decade career as
a pastry chef and cookbook author, he finally moved to Paris to start a
new life. Having crammed all his worldly belongings into three
suitcases, he arrived, hopes high, at his new apartment in the lively
Bastille neighborhood. But he soon discovered it's a different world en
France.
From learning the ironclad rules of social conduct to the mysteries of
men's footwear, from shopkeepers who work so hard not to sell you
anything to the etiquette of working the right way around the cheese
plate, here is David's story of how he came to fall in love with--and
even understand--this glorious, yet sometimes maddening, city.
When did he realize he had morphed into un vrai parisien? It might
have been when he found himself considering a purchase of men's dress
socks with cartoon characters on them. Or perhaps the time he went to a
bank with 135 euros in hand to make a 134-euro payment, was told the
bank had no change that day, and thought it was completely normal. Or
when he found himself dressing up to take out the garbage because he had
come to accept that in Paris appearances and image mean everything.
Once you stop laughing, the more than fifty original recipes, for dishes
both savory and sweet, such as Pork Loin with Brown Sugar-Bourbon Glaze,
Braised Turkey in Beaujolais Nouveau with Prunes, Bacon and Bleu Cheese
Cake, Chocolate-Coconut Marshmallows, Chocolate Spice Bread,
Lemon-Glazed Madeleines, and Mocha-Crème Fraîche Cake, will have you
running to the kitchen for your own taste of Parisian living.
