L’APPART: THE DELIGHTS AND DISASTERS OF MAKING MY PARIS HOME

DAVID LEBOVITZ’S LATEST BOOK IS A MUST-READ                                (EVEN IF YOU SKIP OVER RECIPES SHARED AT CHAPTER ENDS)

L’Appart has plenty of details, often told in sardonic humor, about life, food, culture, cost and rules of living in the culinary capital.

But it mainly focuses on the never-ending setbacks experienced by a results-oriented American in a city whose laws seem designed specifically to delay closing the deal on buying that perfect apartment…

…then going through endless torture with untrustworthy and (it turns out) incompetent contractors.

We live in Miami, so evil...careless...corrupt...disappearing contractors are actually considered the good ones!

Many here exist only in a circle of hell below corrupt/incompetent.

So we feel Lebovitz’s pain while he endures strings of five figure costs for perpetually delayed, always shoddy work worth less than four figures when the dust clears.

Will our hero live, sans nervous breakdown, to see the completion of his dream Paris kitchen in an apartment that he will own?

Find out at

https://www.amazon.com/LAppart-Delights-Disasters-Making-Paris/dp/0804188408/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&linkCode=sl1&tag=davidleboviswebs&linkId=76c7bc04325a5c6cae423c22cbec67b7&language=en_US

L’APPART: THE DELIGHTS AND DISASTERS OF MAKING MY PARIS HOME

DAVID LEBOVITZ’S LATEST BOOK IS A MUST-READ                                (EVEN IF YOU SKIP OVER RECIPES SHARED AT CHAPTER ENDS)

The author’s DavidLebovitz.com blog shared recipes, as one would expect a cookbook author to do, but it gained popularity has he also shared matter of fact tales of everyday life in a beautiful city that can be rather unforgiving in etiquette, tradition and red tape.

L’Appart (busy Paris contraction for The Apartment) comes with the bonus of recipes from an expert chef who has been featured in: Bon Appétit, Chocolatier, Food+Wine, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Travel and Leisure, The New York Times, People, Saveur and USA Today.

But for those of us who enjoy memoir over a countertop of bowls, mixers and dozens of ingredients -- it's easy to skip over, or speed read them.

My fingers were eagerly flipping pages to keep up with his perfect blend of storytelling spiced/spiked with details about peculiarities of Paris, French bureaucracy and contractors.

L’APPART: THE DELIGHTS AND DISASTERS OF MAKING MY PARIS HOME

DAVID LEBOVITZ’S LATEST BOOK IS A MUST-READ                                (EVEN IF YOU SKIP OVER RECIPES SHARED AT CHAPTER ENDS)

I have just completed L'appart and commend Chef/Blogger/Cookbook Author/ExPat in Paris David Lebovitz for his ease with the language and ability to to season trying tales with good humor.

To me, the kitchen only is a place to store, refrigerate, freeze and re-heat stuff.

So the having recipes part of the book scared me away from buying it for a half year.

Lebovitz began working in restaurants at the age of sixteen and ended up at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, working with the famed Alice Waters and co-owner, Executive Pastry Chef Lindsey Shere, who he credits as his pastry mentor.

He moved to Paris in 1999 and started an early blog to coincide with the release of his first book, Room for Dessert. 

IL MECENATE -- LUCCA, ITALY -- PART 2

LOCALLY SOURCED, DIVINELY PREPARED CUISINE

IN THE FINEST LUCCHESE TRADITION

Dapples of shadows and light played off the ochre of walls, the indigo of an awning, the vermillion of window box geraniums.

 

But tourists (as opposed to travelers – fodder for a future blog posting) were also in full bloom.

And restaurants catering to tourists were plentiful as well.

Finding a gem off the beaten path would be a challenge.

Fortunately, our guide led us through some tranquil residential streets to Il Mecenate, a restaurant specializing in frutti di mare.

In Italian, il mecenate means “the patron,” and indeed, it is all about you, the one sitting at the table.

 

We felt as though we’d been invited to dine with long-lost cousins at their country house in the rolling hills of Toscano. 

 

IL MECENATE REVIEW CONTINUES

TOMORROW -- SEPTEMBER 15

IL MECENATE -- LUCCA, ITALY -- PART 1

LOCALLY SOURCED, DIVINELY PREPARED CUISINE

IN THE FINEST LUCCHESE TRADITION

By Heidi Johnson-Wright

Travel brings many pleasures, perhaps the best of those being a treasured experience one did not expect.

During a fortnight spent in Tuscany, we took a day trip to Lucca, a delightful little town just a short train ride from Florence.

 

Upon arrival, we took a cab into the old heart of the town, still encircled by a centuries’ old, amazingly well-preserved stone wall.

We met up with a guide, who took us on a walking tour of various cathedrals, piazzas and landmarks.

After several overcast days in Florence, we were entranced by the sunlight bathing everything in a golden glow. 

IL MECENATE REVIEW CONTINUES

TOMORROW -- SEPTEMBER 14