I had a lot of fun talking with Leslie Brenner on this Live video. Leslie is the former food editor of the Los Angeles Times, and restaurant critic and dining editor of the Dallas Morning News, and we discussed quite a few topics, from how recipes have changed and evolved over the years, what motivated me to start writing cookbooks in the first place, how living in France affected my recipes, why I updated my book, Ready for Dessert, and what are some of my favorite and “must make” recipes.

[Note: There was a tech glitch and you can fast forward to around the 11 minute mark, which is when I joined Leslie and we started talking.]

Thanks to Leslie for inviting me to chat with her!

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Matt Kepnes, aka, Nomadic Matt, is one of the original bloggers, who I remember fondly from the early days of blogging. He started his travel blog, Nomadic Matt, in 2008 and has since turned it into a website with comprehensive information about all things travel. I’ve followed him around the globe—online, not in person. (Unfortunately!) I was happy to cross paths with him in Paris on his recent visit here and invited him into my kitchen to talk about travel in this day and age on my podcast.

Matt has a great expression. To keep travel costs down, he says: Travel like you live, which I think is a wonderful way of looking at things. (Although I don’t mind staying in a hotel where someone makes the bed, and I’m not big on renting apartments. Who wants to do dishes while on vacation?) But we all have our own ways we like to travel, and it’s nice that Matt keeps things “real,” whether you’re a budget traveler (he still stays at youth hostels) or you’re flying business class. He’s very astute about gaining and using miles to get those coveted spots on the plane.

Matt is one of those people who’s mastered the art of traveling for weeks with just a carry-on, and we talked about many topics in this podcast, including why you should always get travel insurance, whether or not a headlamp is a good idea to pack in your suitcase (who’d have thought of that?), as well as how travel influencers are changing travel, for better or worse. He also shared nearly a dozen of his favorite dining spots in Paris.

Matt has also published several budget travel guides to various destinations such as Thailand, Europe, New York City, and Nomadic Matt’s Guide to Paris…

…as well as his latest book, a brand-new edition of How to Travel the World on $75 a Day. It was great to catch up with Matt here in Paris, and I hope you enjoy our chat.

-David

Where to Find Matt Kepnes

-Get Matt’s Travel Guides and Books

-Follow Matt on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

-Visit his website, NomadicMatt.com

-Sign up for Matt’s travel newsletter

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You may know Cécilia Jourdan from her wildly popular social media account Hello French which has close to 1.6 million followers on Instagram, and I wasn’t kidding when I said at the beginning of our podcast chat that I was very excited to finally meet her. (I’m a fan.)

Cécilia has done an amazing job bringing the French language, and many aspects of French culture, to the English-speaking world. She has covered everything from baguette etiquette to making a fresh apricot tart and describing the classic French petit déjeuner (breakfast) in English and in French.

Like me, Cécilia is bicultural; she was born in France and now lives in Brooklyn. During our chat in my Paris kitchen, we discussed key differences between the cultures, what it was like for her to immigrate to America, how to tip in France (which is quite different from tipping in America…), and she being a French teacher, we discussed some of the mistakes that are easy to make when speaking French.

Of course, I had to quiz Cécilia on some obscure English vocabulary and did a lightning round with her: Who does it better? It included asking which country, France or America, did these things better: aluminum foil, butter, waiting in line, cheese, and optimism (vs. pessimism), among other things. During the podcast, I also taught Cécilia a few new words in English…a few that are a bit risqué. 🤭

Cécilia also published a comprehensive e-guide, Hello Paris: Experience the City Like a Parisian, which features over two hundred and fifty of her favorite addresses in Paris for restaurants, cafés, cocktail bars, museums, bakeries, boutiques, and hotels, with maps that’ll help you easily navigate the city like a pro.

Give the podcast a listen, and I hope you enjoy listening to Cécilia as much as I enjoyed talking to her!

-David

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Links to Cécilia Jourdan and Hello French

* Follow Cécilia and Hello French on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok.

* Visit Hello French website.

* Subscribe to the Hello French newsletter.

* Get the Hello Paris: Experience the City Like a Parisian guide.

* Check out Cécilia’s Learning Guides to Speaking French.

* Dine at her father’s restaurant in le Marais, Le Colimaçon.

* Cécilia offers classes via a series of Learning eGuides that cover French essentials for beginners and mastering French pronunciation and the sounds of spoken French.

Tahini has gotten a lot of press in the last few years, and the delicious sesame paste has become a staple in many of our pantries. Many cultures have embraced the borderless sesame seed in some form or another, including Japanese gomashio and furikake, hummus from the Middle East, Italian Reginelle cookies, and even in burgers. In her new book, Rachel Simons explores all the possibilities and guises of this versatile ingredient: Sesame: Global Recipes & Stories of an Ancient Seed

Rachel is the co-founder of Seed+Mill, which offers top-quality tahini and halvah, a rich sesame paste that’s one of the best things you’ll put in your mouth. There are many brands of tahini and halvah (that vary in quality) but the ones offered by Seed+Mill are uniformly excellent, and I always make room in my suitcase to bring some back to Paris with me.

And if you find yourself in New York City, the tahini soft-serve ice cream they serve in their shop at the Chelsea Market, served with crumbles of halvah, is truly a scoop—or swirl—of heaven.

Rachel is one of the nicest people I know, although she did yell at me once…

I was packing jelly rings at the Joyva halvah factory in Brooklyn with Jake Cohen, and that’s Rachel, yelling at me. 😂

We’ve since made up and I’ve been enjoying her new book, Sesame, so much that I invited her on my podcast when I was in New York, to talk about tahini, halvah, and the wonderful world of sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

-David

Links

* Follow Rachel Simons on Instagram, and Seed+Mill on Instagram

* Get Sesame: Global Recipes and Stories from an Ancient Seed

* Visit the Seed + Mill website, where you can order tahini and halvah

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It may sound cliché, but I suspect for most of you, Dorie Greenspan needs no introduction. Dorie is an accomplished baker, whose books range from an oversize volume of never-fail cookie recipes, Dorie’s Cookies, to translating the recipes of master Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé, making them accessible to home bakers in Desserts by Pierre Hermé. And when Julia Child launched her TV show, Baking with Julia on PBS, she tapped Dorie to write the companion book, Baking with Julia.

Dorie describes herself as a part-time Parisian, so I took advantage of her time while she was in Paris recently invited her to stop by my kitchen for a chat.

We talked about many subjects, including our favorite baking pans, whether the U.S. is ready for metrics (or at least recipes in weights), how to get the hump in madeleines, and how she wrote, and cajoled recipes from pastry chefs and pâtisseries, for her Paris-based cookbooks; Baking Chez Moi, Around My French Table, and Paris Sweets.

Her new book is Dorie’s Anytime Cakes and features casual cakes, in all different shapes, sizes, and flavors…

When Dorie came by, she (of course) arrived with cakes from Pierre Hermé and a box of macarons, including one flavored with tomato leaves and another with tonka beans.

A few show notes:

* When asked about her three favorite bakeries in Paris at the moment, she mentioned Michalak, Rayonnance, and Tapisserie in the podcast.

* My favorite California Blenheim dried apricots are from Apricot King.

* The European-style cake pan we mentioned is the Tea Loaf Pan from King Arthur Baking. (I mention it in my chocolate book, coming out in the spring of 2026.)

I hope you enjoy our chat!- David

* Follow Dorie on Instagram and Facebook

* Visit her website: doriegreenspan.com

* Subscribe to Dorie’s newsletter: xoxodoriegreenspan

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Living in France, it’s hard to overestimate the prevalence and importance of wine. Not only is it a marker and reflection of the place where it’s made, but it’s an integral part of French culture and cuisine. It’s a natural pairing with meals and accompanies almost every gathering with friends and family.

I like wine, but like most people in France, I’m an amateur. I know what I like and what I don’t like. But I’m taking more of an interest in wine to deepen my knowledge. So I’m fortunate to have friends like Preston Mohr, who’s an expert on wine but also knows how to communicate and explain wine in simple terms, without any pretense, so we can all get more enjoyment out of it.

I invited Preston into my Paris kitchen to talk about French wines — what to look for when buying French wine, how to order wine without feeling sheepish in a restaurant or café, and what to do if the wine you’ve been served isn’t to your liking. (Which was discussed in the comments here.)

We also chatted about how the French wine world has changed over the last few years, whether Beaujolais should be avoided, as well as his favorite wine bars in Paris.

Originally from Minnesota, Preston has called Paris home for the last twenty years. He’s the Managing Director of the Wine Scholar Guild, which connects wine lovers from around the world and offers certification programs for wine professionals and enthusiasts who want to learn more about wine, either in person, at one of 130 locations around the world, or online, at your own pace. In fact, I’m thinking of signing up!

We had lunch today at Le Cornichon and tried to power through this giant platter of frites (that were very good), but only managed to make a good-sized dent in them.

Next time…

In the meantime, enjoy listening to my chat with Preston.

-David

Links

* Wine Scholar Guild (website)

* Preston Mohr on LinkedIn

* Preston Mohr on Instagram

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Thanks to everyone for tuning into my live video with Yotam Ottolenghi!

It was great fun to connect with Yotam and discuss everything from cooking and baking inspiration, to favorite kitchen tools and tips, as well as two “weekend friendly” recipes; Yotam Ottolenghi’s Baked Feta-Dill Frittata and my Croissants aux amandes, almond-filled croissants.

I’ll be posting the recipe for them this week - stay tuned!

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When Kate Leahy was in Paris recently, I was happy to have a chat with her in my kitchen for my podcast. A former restaurant cook, Kate seamlessly pivoted to food writing, collaborating on books with a variety of chefs, bakers, and sommeliers, and has also penned several books on her own.

Kate co-authored La Buvette with Camille Fourmont, the owner of the charming La Buvette wine bar in Paris, and most recently, My Egypt with chef-restaurateur Michael Mina.

She also co-wrote Lavash, which explores the world of Armenian flatbreads; Cookie Love with Mindy Segal; Burma Superstar, featuring recipes from San Francisco’s legendary Burmese restaurant; and A16 Food+Wine, from one of the best Italian restaurants in America.

While Kate was in Paris working on a project with me, in between baking together and hitting the town, attending chocolate tastings, and checking out the $15 ham & cheese sandwich at the Ritz Hotel’s Le Comptoir bakery (see below), we talked about writing cookbooks in this podcast.

A lot goes into writing a cookbook, especially when she’s collaborating with a chef and travels to places such as Egypt and Armenia to research and cull recipes. We discussed how she chooses what projects to work on, which chefs and sommeliers to work with, what are the most rewarding parts of writing cookbooks…and what are the most difficult. (And no, working with me wasn’t one of the latter…hopefully!😉)

Our chat also touched on the subject of the world of cookbooks today, what makes a good cookbook, and what direction cookbooks are going in. Other topics include how the world of food writing has changed with the internet and recipes on social media, where recipe sharing has pivoted to what Alicia Kennedy has called the test kitchen-ifcation of food media, as people vie for attention in a changing landscape.

Enjoy the podcast!

-David

* Follow Kate Leahy on Instagram.

* Visit Kate Leahy’s website.

* Check out Kate Leahy’s books.

* Listen to Kate’s podcast with Kristin Donnelly, Molly Stevens, and Andrea Nguyen — Everything Cookbooks. (My episode with them is here.)

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[Thanks to audio engineer Justin Golden for working his magic, and his editing talents, on my podcasts.]

I’ve known Lindsey Tramuta almost as long as I’ve been in Paris. We live in the same arrondissement (go 11th!) and I occasionally see her out and about, when she’s not busy writing books, or magazines and newspaper articles, which are featured in such publications as The New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Condé Nast Traveler.

I arrived in Paris quite unprepared, not speaking French not knowing what to expect. Lindsey moved to France the opposite way (and in my opinion, the right way), with a background in French literature, studying in France, and having a boyfriend, who is now her husband. Even so, the move still presented some challenges.

I thought it would be fun to talk to Lindsey about her journey—what motivated her to make the move (and how she answers the eternal question from visitors: Is it permanent?), what she loves about the city and living in France, as well as some of the downsides of living one’s life abroad.

In Lindsey’s first book, The New Paris, she chronicled the last decade in Paris, during while time the city’s food scene had lost some of its some of its luster, and showcased a new generation of young, engaged Parisians who changed the landscape, rebooting Paris’ reputation as a thriving, world-class gastronomic destination, that continues to evolve.

In The New Parisienne, Lindsey tackles the perception of the Parisian woman, profiling pastry chefs, creators, artists, activists, and even the mayor of city, who have changed the image of the French woman (rather than adhering to the stereotype), and who continue to shape the city today.

Lindsey also just finished The Eater Guide to Paris, focusing on the bistros, wine bars, pastry shops, cafés, and cocktail bars in the city, which will be released in the spring of 2025. In addition to writing books and articles, Lindsey is the host of her own podcast, The New Paris podcast, and writes the newsletter, The New Paris Dispatch.

We had a great time talking about our lives in Paris, including what’s changed in the city since we arrived, if Paris really is a good place to live, what are some of the difficulties of living here (#paperwork), what are some of the cultural differences one must navigate, our thoughts on the French healthcare system, and why we’ve both ultimately chose to call Paris our home.

I hope you enjoy our chat!

-David

Lindsey Tramuta

* Lindsey’s website: Lindseytramuta.com

* Instagram

* The New Paris Podcast

* Lindsey’s Books

* Paris Tours (customized Paris tours)

* Subscribe and read The New Paris Dispatch newsletter

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A few years ago, I visited several Pineau des Charentes producers in a region of France known as the Charente, where Cognac is made. Legend has it that it was originally made by accident when a Cognac producer centuries ago added fresh grape to a barrel of eau-de-vie (a clear distillation of grapes), intended to be aged for Cognac. He let it rest, and age, anyways, and thus, Pineau des Charentes was made.

Nowadays Pineau des Charentes comes in white, red, and rosé varieties, with the rosé version aging the shortest, to some of the reds and whites being aged a decade or more, although most Pineau des Charentes is aged for about 12-18 months before it’s bottled.

It’s one of my favorite French apéritifs, which I wrote about in my book Drinking French. During my travels for the book, doing research, and diving deeper into the world of French spirits, I was fortunate to meet various producers, and it was gratifying to see what care they took

Amy married into a Cognac-making family and I met her on a visit to the region when I was visiting

I sort of made a gaffe when I was in the region prior to visiting Amy and her husband Jean, by slipping a cube of ice into my glass of Pineau des Charentes, which shocked a few of the people around me. Amy later showed me an ad from years ago that said “Osez!” (“Dare!”) and pictured a glass of Pineau des Charentes with ice is in.

Nowadays, they’re upping the “cool” factor of Pineau des Charentes by showing bartenders putting ice into Pineau des Charentes, which is a great way to enjoy it, but well-chilled, without glaçons is good fine, too.

I love Pineau des Charentes and am particularly fond of the apéritif made by Jean-Luc Pasquet, which has a unique freshness that makes it brighter than other Pineaus, and their apéritif infused with raspberries from their garden, is wonderful sipped in the summer, with or without ice. Although I always put a cube or two in mine : )

They are also making a rosé Pineau des Charentes which is giving other rosé-based French apéritifs a run for their money.

Amy was recently elected to be the president of the Comité National du Pineau des Charentes

We talked about what is Pineau des Charentes, how it relates to the Cognac-making region of France, how to drink it, and what makes it so special. While not as well-known as other French apéritifs (98% of the Cognac production is exported from France, whereas only 20% of the Pineau des Charentes is exported) and we agree that it deserves to be better-known.

I hope you enjoy my chat wtih Amy about this uniquely French apéritif!

-David

You can find Jean-Luc Pasquet Pineau des Charentes on Wine Searcher.

Follow Jean-Luc Pasquet on Instagram.

Visit the Jean-Luc Pasquet website.

Try this Fall-friendly Harvest Spritz Cocktail, made with Pineau des Charentes.