Great guide - how about an update, Patricia?
"The Food Lover's Guide to Paris" has been a terrific resource for a lot of years for anything to do with food, Paris and France. It includes recommended restaurants, food stores, kitchen boutiques, classic recipes, a guide to daily food markets and a food glossary, among other things. Patricia Wells' knowing and insightful writing is clear and ego-free throughout. I've been using the book for nearly 15 years of travel to Paris and rate it better than anything else of its kind.
So why write a review 10 years after its last publishing date? Primarily to make a plea to the author and her publisher to update this bible some. There are more than a few restaurants and stores that have gone out of business or simply gone down hill. There are plenty of recipes from Well's other books that could supplant what's in the 1999 edition. And, I'm certain that Wells has learned more about this grand city in the past 10 years that could usefully be passed along to those of us who are only occasional visitors. So how about it, Patricia? Thanks in advance.
out of date
This is a wonderful book but out of date so unless you are very familiar with Paris, or check other sources, it is not clear what places are still in business. The meal prices are all in francs but they do tell the relative costs. The book contains many recipes.
Not just a restaurant guide
Yes, some of the restaurant reviews are out of date, but this is so much more than just a restaurant guide. It also gives details about markets, boulangeries, pattiseries and other treats and traiteurs. Gold dust.
One of the best ways to eat in Paris is to buy a baguette de tradition and a fresh piece of really STINKY and TOTALLY unpasteurised fromage and eat it in a jardin or parc. (I reccomend the rue Cler for this you can get your fromage from Christine and your pain from Poujairan and your patisserie from Lenotre - all spellings approximate!- and eat them around the Invalides).
This book tells you how to do all that, and how to find precious treats like Berthillon ice cream and Christian Constant chocolates and Le Stubli's cakes.... I could go on but it's making me too hungry.
But a new edition is certainly sorely needed. For example, Andre Lerch is retired, and has been replaced in rue Cardinal Lemoine by a store selling Tour D'Argent memorabilia. Conversely, the book omits the magnificent Pierre Herme (probably the best and most astonishingly innovative patissier in Paris, and it's in rue Bonaparte - just spot the queue). In the meantime, boulangerie fans could acquire the Guide des Boulangeres (which is regularly updated with a pamphlet supplement) or the Michelin single-city food guides; both can be got from the fabulous cookbook store in the Rue Dante, which has very helpful English-speaking staff. And for restaurants nothing beats Gault-Millau (provided your French is good - it's idiomatic).
But Wells is still worth having, especially for non-French speakers. She points in most of the right directions. You CAN update her book a bit by visiting her website.
And her devotion to Paris and Parisian food makes you want to sing aloud. It was this book that helped me become a raving Paris foodie, and I'm still very grateful.
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