There are numerous restaurant guides available for the Paris-bound traveler to consult before making that dream trip to the City of Light, but the one that I have found that best describes the city’s culinary scene is the soon-to-be-published J’aime Paris: Mon Paris du goût en 200 adresses, by Alain Ducasse (April 2011, Alain Ducasse Edition).
J’aime Paris is a heavy book, weighing in at 4 lbs! It contains 596 pages, and is illustrated with sumptuous black-and-white and color photographs. Co-written with Frédérick E. Grasser Hermé, it is a lively account in words and pictures of some 230 establishments in Paris. While most of the places described are restaurants, the authors also include numerous marketplaces, kitchenware shops, specialty food shops, bars, bakeries, pastry shops, cheese shops, butcher shops, cafés, and more. The book is a veritable treasure-trove of information on the vast and varied world of gastronomy for which Paris is famous.
Although the brief accounts of each establishment are written in French, in my opinion, an understanding of the language is not necessary to enjoy and to learn from the book. It is amply illustrated with hundreds of photographs. The images by themselves effectively convey the passion that motivates Parisian restaurant and food shop owners, and the rich culture and traditions of the French gastronomic experience.
J’aime Paris by Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse Edition
Photographer: Pierre Monetta
Appears in bookshops in April 2011 – 35 €
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