My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and Stories [A Cookbook] Hardcover – Wall Calendar, April 8, 2014

I did not expect to like this cookbook so much. I think it’s bc his writing style gave me such pleasure. I really enjoyed reading a cookbook!!

If I could give this book more stars I'd do it. David's writing is captivating. This is the first cook book I've actually read. It helps that this is my form of cooking. It's my gig. I took some food service courses back around 1991 after I graduated from college, so I'm not a rookie by any means.I got this book last Friday. I spent a few hours with it on Saturday and on Sunday I entertained with the multigrain bread and the Coq Au Vin. I followed the recipe for the Coq Au Vin to a T, although I don't use measuring devices. I used the best quality ingredients I could find and spent about $14 on a bottle of Cote du Rhone. Wow, this meal was just amazing. The bread was cooked in a 7 1/4 quart Le Creuset Dutch oven. It looked exactly like the picture in the book.On to Monday. We had the day off and I decided I'd make the Coq Monsieur. I still cannot describe how delicious this sandwich was. It was so far beyond any sandwich I've ever tasted. The béchamel lends itself so well to the compte or gruyere. I am not kidding when I tell you to make this sandwich with the best ingredients possible and surrender yourself to your doctor the next morning. If you're ever going to die eating a sandwich, this will be that time.Third night in a row, it's now Tuesday. I made the ribeye steak with the mustard butter and frites. For the steak, I chose the cilantro, hickory salt and chipotle powder. I seasoned the steaks (very thin small ribeyes I like to use) and let rest in the fridge for over an hour while the frites soaked. I used fresh thyme for the frites. Wow!!! The frites were golden and crispy That mustard butter made this perfectly seasoned cut of beef sing. The best ever. Wow!!!! Just wow. Flavor explosion.The recipes in this book are so nicely balanced.I love everything about this book. My wife and I have a flat rented in the 8th for September of 2015 and we will be cooking some of David's recipes while were there. Maybe David will be down wind of it.

I bought this book based on my love for David Lebovitz's blog. I'm a novice cook who didn't step into the kitchen until I was 30 and really wanted a healthier box, can, and (mostly) microwave free diet. The thing that most attracted me towards Lebovitz's writing is that he has the heart of a teacher and that comes through in the way he writes. I do occasionally have to google the method to do something since my kitchen skills are pretty low but typically google directs me right back to Lebovitz's blog!I've made a solid number of sides and main recipes out of this book (haven't touched the desert section yet) and they have been incredible hits at the dinner table. My squash hating husband ate the squash soup. My veggie hating friend came over for a salad.Just be warned - if you're looking for five minute dinners or quick food this is not the book for you. Most of the dishes in this book do not come together quickly. Cooking from this book (and his blog) have taught me to enjoy the process of cooking and yes, even grocery shopping! Thanks to his inspiration I've sought out my local farmers market and am getting to know my local food producing community.

Whenever I purchase a book written by a Chez Panisse alumnus, I do so with some trepidation, wondering how often or how intensely I will be beaten over the head with the Water’s mantra of “fresh and local” or how guilty I will feel slinking over to the frozen artichoke hearts rather than whittling down a whole (fresh and in-season, of course) artichoke to approximately the size of a quarter all the while praying that I have not left some errant “choke” for someone to …well…choke on. Although David Lebovitz did his time at Chez Pannise, My Paris Kitchen left me with none of those feelings. While there is certainly the exhortation to buy the best that you can in the way of supplies, there is also the nod to the realities of the “everyperson” kitchen. Possibly this attitude developed in the years when he first was in Paris in an apartment with a tiny stove and almost no room to cook.It is easy to like My Paris Kitchen. It is easy to like David Lebovitz. He is witty without being crass, and his dry humor is often shot through with insights concerning both himself and the people surrounding him. Lebovitz spices his recipes with background stories that are gleeful with the idiosyncrasies of life in Paris, but none of his comments on said idiosyncrasies are mean spirited. Lebovitz pokes as much fun at himself as he does his Parisian neighbors, and takes delight when he finds a way to make breakthroughs that bring him closer to other citizens of Paris. (He often uses his baked goods, especially chocolate ones, as a means to building friendships.)The recipes he has in the book are those that are part of his everyday (mostly) real life meals and translate pretty well to other people’s everyday lives.This is not to say that they are not, occasionally, difficult. Some , such as his cassoulet are a bit demanding, but they are all do-able if followed step by step.While it is easy to like My Paris Kitchen, It is even easier to enjoy My Paris Kitchen if one has read Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris (I came, luckily, upon a copy about two weeks before my pre-ordered book was set to arrive.) and that is one suggestion that I would make for anyone considering this book. Either prior to purchasing this book, or concurrent with reading this book, check out The Sweet Life in Paris. It is an earlier work and much of the material fleshes out what has been, to some degree, abbreviated in My Paris Kitchen. Armed with that information, the stories and comments in My Paris Kitchen become even more enjoyable. Without the benefit of the information in that book, some of the comments and references have a “flat” quality about them.For those who might be expecting a Paris travelogue of some kind, this is only that in a very limited sense. There are places that Lebovitz mentions as favorites of his, but they are usually mentioned in the context of a favorite food or dessert. This too adds a charm and creates a closer bond between the reader and the author, which isn’t surprising when one remembers that Lebovitz is a food blogger with a rather large following.The recipes are good and approachable, the pictures are done well, and the book is a pleasure to either read, or to thumb through at random. If Parisian cooking and one man’s view of Parisian life in general is of interest, this is a good book to add to one’s collection (but get The Sweet Life in Paris, too.)

Admittedly I haven’t made a single recipe in this book - I just had shoulder surgery but I can’t wait to try. More importantly 😂 it’s a great read. Yes, I read cookbooks like I do novels. So I’m sitting out on my deck with a coffee and croissant from a French style bakery in town, in a robe while most of the U.S. is melting ( you gotta love CO) enjoying this beautiful book full of stories and pictures. It’s my hope to someday attend short culinary courses in Europe (France, Italy) - this book gives a great picture of everyday cooking in Paris. This guy is a great writer 📚