Lindsay

When America’s leading baking magazine, Bake from Scratch, asks you to contribute a story on how bread baking has changed in Paris in recent years, you not only jump at the chance, you jump ensuring you have an appetite for the nibbling you’ll do while researching! If you read the food and dining chapter in my book The New Paris, you’ve had a solid introduction into the symbolic role of bread on Parisian tables, at home and in restaurants, and how a handful of bakers worked to make hearty loaves made from sourdough and ancient grains a real companion to any meal, not merely a side affair. In Beyond the Baguette, published in Bake from Scratch Magazine’s French issue (March / April 2019), I take it a bit further and look at a wide range of bakers who weren’t about to let the tradition and art of bread making become a cultural footnote due to mediocrity and mass production and have pioneered a spirited bread revival

2 — SPECIALTY COFFEE SUBSCRIPTION Get freshly roasted specialty coffee delivered to your door from Parisian coffee roasters Belleville Brulerie (France and Europe delivery only… for now! ) Parfumeur, the original small-batch perfumer launched in 1976 that regularly works with the world’s leading noses, has launched travel-inspired scents that I can’t get enough of (and that’s saying a lot since it’s taken me *years* to find fragrances that didn’t set off a migraine! ). The house began by rolling out Bucoliques de Provence, a scent that evokes the lavender fields in Grasse (which I wear almost every day), then Un Air de Bretagne, a scent inspired by Brittany’s sea breeze and most recently, Mandarina Corsica ,which recalls the island I’ve turned so many people onto this small, women-run brand and am happy to do so because I love their designs and their commitment to fighting fashion waste: their goods are upcycled, made from offcut and surplus fabrics.

Whether it’s a quick affair before dinner or a lead-up to a more lavish party,  is about kicking off the night, rousing the appetite, and doing so with social connection. For food stylist and author Rebekah Peppler, a longtime fan of spirits, the fascination with the tradition of apéro actually began when she was still in Brooklyn, unaware of its existence. she writes, “I was sick of paying twelve dollars a round, so I started stocking my bar and bringing cocktail hour home. In good weather, the roof became an extension of my apartment: a dining room, a living room, a place to gather to watch the sun drop and usher in the evening, drinks in hand.

And I should know, because I’ve just done exactly that. When I left Paris on this honeymoon adventure six weeks ago, I spoke about a 7/10 French. For example, I wish I’d never had to learn the translation for maladie de lyme (Lyme Disease) but that was exactly the diagnosis of my doctor in La Sourn. And I had no idea how how to talk about brake pads on a scooter until mine failed somewhere near La Rochelle.