I didn’t expect to be as captivated as I was by The New French Wine: Redefining the World’s Greatest Wine Culture. It’s an immense two-volume book spanning nearly 850 pages, exploring the lush vineyards and wine regions of France with profiles of 800 producers and notes on around 7,000 wines. I’m no wine expert, but as soon as I started reading the first page, I was hooked.

Living in, and writing about, France, it’s often a challenge to explain the intricacies of life here. In the subtitle of his book, wine writer Jon Bonné acknowledges the greatness of the past and present French wine world, while noting the more unfortunate changes that took place in France and in the French wine industry. It’s a complicated knot of bureaucracy, outdated rules, and a push for higher production (with the help of questionable additives and pesticides), which are coming home to roost as environmental and economic challenges have made making wine more compliqué.

What drew me into the book was how Jon, who lives part-time in France, deeply understands the country. In his write-up of The New French Wine in the New York Times, wine writer Eric Asimov sums it up:

Mr. Bonné argues, essentially, that in order to understand French wine, you need to understand French culture. “C’est compliqué,” he writes. There are contradictions and inconsistencies which the French are forever trying to reconcile as they both yearn for order and resist it. This is a terrific book not only about wine but about France.

It’s not a reference book, but something better: an opinionated, thought-provoking work that uses wine as a vehicle for cultural history.

One needs to understand the past in order to move toward the future, which Jon does so well in his book, with lots of background information based on his deep knowledge of France and French wine, and he highlights a new, younger generation of winemakers who are jumping into the family business, forging new paths, and making wines that are redefining the world of French wine.

I was delighted to invite Jon over when he was in Paris recently to talk about his book, France, and French wine, and he brought a unique white wine from Bordeaux that he picked up on the way over that reflected the changes in the French wine world. (It’s sold in a Burgundy bottle!) I was happy to sit—and sip—with Jon, and hope you enjoy our chat.

-David

* Visit Jon at his website: JonBonné.com

* Follow Jon Bonné on Instagram and Twitter

* Get The New French Wine: Redefining the World’s Greatest Wine Culture

When it comes to style, I don’t think anyone is eager to copy what I wear every day, although I do know that some people covet some of the dishes and cookware that I pick up at flea markets in France. Fortunately, we have Ajiri Aki in Paris, who founded Madame de la Maison, a fabulous online resource for carefully curated French antiques and linens. (Warning: You’ll want to order everything she has in stock.)

I’ve been a fan of Ajiri for quite some time, but it wasn’t until the release of my book Drinking French that we connected…over cocktail coupes, of course!

So I’m thrilled that Ajiri has come out with her own book, Joie: A Parisian’s Guide to Celebrating the Good Life, where she sets the record straight on how she, and other Parisians, find their joie de vie, describing her personal journey, along with tips from locals, addresses for her favorite cafés for lingering, and spas for personal pampering. For those who have a little more time, she also shares addresses for havens outside of Paris…to get away from it all for le week-end.

Accompanied by beautiful photos, Ajiri lets us in on how she learned to balance raising children and launching a business. Parisians are known for being discerning, and she explains why quality matters to the French, how to master the French art of saying Non (and why), tips for creating the perfect apéro hour (with a “cheat sheet” for getting it together, no matter where you live), some dos and don’ts if you’re a guest or a host at a French party or dinner, and she makes a compelling case for drinking from coupes. (Which I couldn’t agree with more.)

In my favorite chapter, she shares a personal family story of why you should use that special china every day, and not wait for a fancy occasion.

I loved chatting with Ajiri, who got me using the café au lait bowls and linen kitchen towels in my collection (below) that I was saving for a “special day.” Thanks to her, now every day is special!

Enjoy the podcast…

-David

* Visit the Madame de la Maison website and her online Shop

* Follow Ajiri at Madame de la Maison on Instagram and Pinterest

* Get your copy of Joie: A Parisian’s Guide to Celebrating the Good Life

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It’s always a pleasure to chat with Dianne Jacob of Dianne Jacob newsletter, food writing coach, teacher, editor, and author of Will Write for Food, which is the handbook for food writing, covering everything from how to break into the world of food writing, starting a blog or a newsletter, as well as valuable tips on writing recipes, what to know if you want to write your first cookbook or food memoir, and how to “bring home the bacon” from doing it.

During our chat we discussed:

* Who “owns” a recipe?

* Why we both switched from a blog to a newsletter.

* How to attribute a recipe (and do you need to?) and navigate the world of appropriation and authenticity.

* What are some of the more controversial issues facing food writers and cookbook authors today?

* What’s happening (or what happened) to food magazines?

* What changes is the world of food writing going through, and can food writing survive without advertising?

* What really goes into writing a cookbook.

* What subjects cookbook publishers are looking for today.

Hope you enjoy our chat!

- David

Check out Dianne’s book, Will Write for Food.

Follow Dianne on Instagram and Facebook.

Subscribe to Dianne’s newsletter Dianne Jacob

Check out Dianne’s website, which includes her services as a food writing coach and editor.

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I had spectacular luck with I was in San Francisco and a friend suggested we meet up one morning at Kantine, a Scandinavian bakery and café. Arriving a little early, I was knocked out by the beautiful selection of pastries and breakfast offerings, which included open-faced smoked fish sandwiches on housemade sprouted rye bread, savory grain porridge, and a Scandinavian take on the breakfast sandwich, the Grovbirkes, a seed-crusted spiral of buttery puff pastry filled with warm scrambled eggs and crisp bacon. I wanted it all!

After meeting owner/baker Nichole Accettola after breakfast, I invited her to join me on my podcast to discuss her life in Denmark with her family, Scandinavian versus French baking culture, and her return to the States to open Kantine. We also tasted a selection of her remarkable pastries (above), which are featured in her book, Scandinavian from Scratch, where Nichole reveals the recipes for the delicious treats from her bakery.

I loved meeting and chatting with Nichole, and enjoyed her wonderful pastries…and hope you enjoy our conversation, too.

-David

-Visit the Kantine bakery & café website https://kantinesf.com/

-Follow Kantine on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kantinesf/

-Order Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Recipes of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (Amazon) (Bookshop.org)

When Phil Rosenthal, star of Somebody Feed Phil, comes to town, we did what we do best: Eat.

Phil was in Paris recently on tour celebrating his book, Somebody Feed Phil, the companion to his Netflix series. The cookbook is a compilation of the most requested recipes from the show, which has become wildly popular, and we had a lot of fun catching up since we first met in Paris, back in 2014, when it all began for him.

We dined well in a few great restaurants in Paris, but took a break from the savory side to enjoy some classic French pastries (from Maison Landemaine), which included Chouquettes and a Croissant aux amandes* (above), the latter of which I call the “slippery slope” of French pastries, because once you start eating one, you can’t stop. This particular one also had chocolate in it, which made it extra irresistible. (While we were recording, Phil liked it so much, he almost ate the whole thing himself!)

We also shared a classic Chocolate éclair as well as one of the lesser-known French pastries (outside of France, that is): Flan Parisien. Check out our chat, and our tasting of these sublime French pastries.

Enjoy the podcast!

-David

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*There’s a recipe for making these in my book, L’Appart.

I recently sat down with my friend Heather Stimmler, of Secrets of Paris, to talk about tourism in Paris for my podcast. Often called “the most visited city in the world,” Paris has an admirable reputation, but the word “tourist” comes with negative connotations. Personally, I love to “play tourist” and spend a day hitting museums, sightseeing, or getting to know a new neighborhood.

Whether you’re a first-time tourist, a resident, a multiple-time visitor, or just interested in Paris, you’ll learn something from Heather and I was happy to have a chat with her about tourism—and other topics—in the city we both call home.

-David

If you want to learn more about French cheeses, you can't do better than to sit down with Jennifer Greco, a French cheese and wine expert. Jennifer stopped by my kitchen with a basket of magnificent French cheeses which we sampled—and, I apologize in advance, but a few I swooned a little too much over. Yes, she knows her stuff!

I hope you enjoy the podcast—and the sampling of French cheeses—as much as I did😋

-David

To learn more about Jennifer's Cheese and Wine tastings in Paris, click here.

Sarah and I bonded over our mutual bewilderment over square pillows (which perplex me since people move from side to side when they sleep - not up and down), as well as traversins, the odd cylindrical bed pillows in France that all but guarantee a sleepless night.

So I was excited to attend her latest show, The Only American in Paris, a hilarious hour of comedy, with stories about her arrival in France, meeting her French husband, and raising two Parisian children.

In her fast-moving hour of comedy, Sarah shares revealing photos of her favorite French politicians, and talks about getting her citizenship, which involved quite a few missteps along the way, including the challenge of trying to get a decent photo in one of those photo booths in the métro station, which you need to accompany one of the many dossiers of paperwork you have to compile to live here. (If even the smallest bit of your teeth are showing, your photo—and file—will be rejected.) She also explains why everyone in Paris needs to have two pharmacists. I won’t give away the ending of the one-hour comedy fest, but I will say this: Photos don’t lie!

I loved talking to Sarah for this podcast and hope you enjoy it as well

-David

Forest Collins of 52 Martinis, a website dedicated to featuring the best cocktail bars in Paris, stopped by my kitchen to shake, stir, and share a few of her favorite cocktail recipes with us, which use French spirits.

There's a delicious 50:50 Martini, a Jack Rose, and a Sidecar to sip on. The recipes are posted in my newsletter at: davidlebovitz.substack.com

Enjoy the podcast, and the drinks!

-David

Visit Forest Collins at her website: 52 Martinis

Listen to Forest’s podcast: Paris Cocktail Talk

Follow Forest on Instagram and Facebook

France is well-known for its pastries and sweets, but the culture does have a bitter side, which includes bittersweet chocolate, dark and dusky chestnut and buckwheat honey, red currants, assertive gentian apéritifs, bitter almonds, amers like Picon, beers, and leafy salads tossed with bitter greens, such as frisée, roquette (arugula), and Belgian endive.

I first heard of Jennifer McLagan when I saw the striking cover of her book, Fat. Published in 2008, it was a grenade tossed against the fat phobia at the time. (Hard to believe there were stampedes in supermarkets, once upon a time, with people hoarding fat-free SnackWell’s chocolate cookies, which have now disappeared.)

Around the same time, I was having a difference of opinion over the cover of one of my books, and I constantly referred to the cover of Fat as a great cookbook cover. I was also interested in meeting the person who had the audacity to go against the flow and publish a positive book on something that was so reviled at the time.

Jennifer McLagan went on to write an award-winning book on another brilliant subject, Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes, and keeps an apartment in Paris where she enjoys the bitter side of the city. We’ve become friends, and it was fun chatting with her in this podcast about the bitter foods enjoyed in France, as well as the drinks.

Enjoy the podcast!

- David

Visit Jennifer at her website: Jennifermclagan.com

Follow Jennifer on Instagram

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