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Learn to COOK - Hungry for Paris: The Ultimate Guide to the City's 102 Best Restaurants
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List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $10.88
Your Save: $ 5.12 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.9544361
EAN: 9780812976830
ISBN: 0812976835
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: 2008-04-15
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: 2008-04-15
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Editorial Reviews:
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WHEN IN PARIS. . . .
If you’re passionate about eating well during your next trip to Paris, you couldn’t ask for a better travel companion than Alexander Lobrano’s charming, friendly, and authoritative Hungry for Paris, the first new comprehensive guide in many years to the city’s restaurant scene. Lobrano, Gourmet magazine’s European correspondent, has written for almost every major food and travel magazine since he became an American in Paris in 1986. Here he shares his personal selection of the city’s 102 best restaurants, each of which is portrayed in savvy, fun, lively descriptions that are not only indispensable for finding a superb meal but a pleasure to read.
Lobrano reveals the hottest young chefs, the coziest bistros, the best buys–including those haute cuisine restaurants that are really worth the money–and the secret places Parisians love most, together with information on the most delicious dishes, ambience, clientele, and history of each restaurant. A series of delightful essays cover various aspects of dining in Paris, including “Table for One” (how to eat alone), “The Four Seasons” (the best of seasonal eating in Paris), and “Eating the Unspeakable” (learning to eat what you don’t think you like). All restaurants are keyed to helpful maps, and the book is seasoned with beautiful photographs by Life magazine photographer Bob Peterson that will only help whet your appetite for tasting Paris.
Praise for Hungry for Paris:
"Every time I go to Paris I call Alec and ask him where to eat. Nobody else has such an intimate knowledge of what is going on in the Paris food world right this minute, and there is nobody I trust more to tell me all the latest news. Happily, Alec has written it all down in this wonderful book and now I can stop bothering him." –Ruth Reichl
"Hungry for Paris is a brilliant book with an almost fatal flaw: the writing is so enchanting you may never leave home to go to any of Alec’s favorite places. Few people know,love and appreciate Paris restaurants the way Alec does; no one writes about them better or with more charm." --Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking From My Home to Yours
“When I was nineteen, I went to France to study, but instead, I just ate. The experience changed me: I came back to the United States, and a few years later, started Chez Panisse. In Hungry for Paris, Alec Lobrano describes his own gastronomic awakening, probably better than I could! This book is a wonderful guide to eating in Paris.”
–Alice Waters
“I dearly hope Monsieur Lobrano has an unlisted phone number, for his book will make readers more than merely hungry for the culinary riches of his adopted city; it will make them ravenous for a dining companion with his particular warmth, wry charm, and refreshingly pure joie de vivre. Lobrano is a sly raconteur, a respectful critic, and the very best kind of insider--one who genuinely longs to share all his best discoveries.”
–Julia Glass, author of The Whole World Over and Three Junes
“Organized by neighborhood and interspersed with delightful sections on such matters as eating alone. . . . This is the sort of guide you read before you go to Paris… Lobrano tells you what to expect and how to act.”-Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Lobrano . . . fleshes out his luscious prose with tempting photos. Hungry for Paris is like a cozy bistro on a chilly day: It makes you feel welcome.”
-Washington Post Book World
“Le Grand Vfour. Maxim's. La Table de Jol Robuchon. None of these venerated restaurants are on Lobrano's list of the 102 best in Paris. And that's one of the reasons I love Hungry for Paris.”-Gridskipper
“A treasure trove of 102 mostly undiscovered addresses… Small and innovative bistros get the lion's share of Lobrano's ink, interspersed with chapters that are autobiographical, informative and entertaining.”-Women’s Wear Daily
“Lobrano is an ideal guide because he remembers who he was, how he became the expert he is now, and how you can acquire expertise. And he can do that hard thing --- see what's in front of him.”- HeadButler.com
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The guide to eating well in Paris
Comment: My wife and I just returned from a week in Paris and used this book to select our dinner venues for each evening (other than one). The five restaurants we went to were uniformly excellent and the reviews were spot on, as well as entertaining.
We've been to Paris a number of times prior to this trip but we ate best this time, thanks to Hungry for Paris. Those who appreciate great food in relaxed restaurants will find this book to be a perfect guide to eating well in Paris.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Paris restaurant reference ever!
Comment: We recently spent three weeks in Paris armed with Hungry for Paris. It is a phenomenal reference book and a great read. We probably visited two dozen or so restaurants recommended in the book, in every price range, and his reviews, descriptions of the atmosphere at the restaurants and the suggested dishes were spot on. Many Parisians that we have met would ask *us* for dinner recommendations after hearing all the places we have visited - many of the restaurants in this book are their inside, secret, all out favorites. In addition to that, the book reads more as a collection of essays than a Zagat, and is a pleasure to just pick up and flip through. A must for anyone who enjoys food and is planning on visiting Paris.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A delicious reading experience!
Comment: Lobrano introduces the Paris traveler and diner not only to the wonders of French cuisine, but also to the cosmopolitan charms of the Parisian neighborhoods in which he dines. Each review includes mini portraits of his many intimate acquaintances which adds another delightful layer to the reader's vicarious Paris dining experience. A true raconteur, Lobrano, with great wit and authority, helps educate all readers in the pleasures of the French table. Essays sprinkled throughout are humorous and engaging. All restaurant reviews include contact information and a quick synopsis of specialities. An invaluable addition to anyone traveling to Paris as well as a great airplane read on the way over.
Customer Rating:
Summary: sour grapes suck
Comment: I can't believe the mean spirited comments by I. Xenos on "Hungry for Paris." To dismiss Lobrano's wonderfully written and thoughtful essays as being "American" and therefore not accurate is stupid. Perhaps Pudlow wrote these comments since his outdated book is not selling.
All Paris bound tourists, especially english speakers, should own a copy of this well done book.
>>By I. Xenos (NYC, NY) "Oh please", July 12, 2008
>>Being American in Paris does not qualify one to write an authoritative book on Paris restaurants .
Customer Rating:
Summary: In a Word, Fabulous!
Comment: As a Paris resident and food travel pro, my job is to refer clients to the best dining options around the world. I rely on a combination of personal experience and expert food journalist knowledge to make the best possible suggestions. It is often the equivalent of being asked to arrange a blind date though, since individual preferences vary and expectations are high, i.e. "This is our first trip to Paris and we can't wait! Can you suggest a charming restaurant in a fun area, with great food and wine that is not too expensive?" What is charming, fun, with 'great food & wine', and affordable for me personally might not be to someone else. I usually need to ask more questions to understand what the client is expecting, so that they aren't let down.
In my experience, I have found that what most people are actually looking for is an ambiance suggestion, yet, most culinary guides heavily reference the chef and menu items. Knowing the chef trained with Ducasse and that the writer dined on langoustines with ginger foam is significant - perhaps more for serious foodies than the casual visitor - but where a chef trained and what 'was' on the menu doesn't say enough about what to expect overall.
Hungry for Paris is one of the few reference books that I trust based upon M. Lobrano's discerning palate and his extensive dining experience in Paris. However, it is the "In a Word" section at the end of each listing that is the most valuable in my making a decision. For instance, page 259 recommends restaurant Carte Blanche in detail, and then sums up, "Excellent, imaginative contemporary French food in a pleasant setting with well-drilled service makes this restaurant in the heart of the city well worth seeking out." Based on the detailed entry plus the summary, I would know what the client will most likely experience as well as who is in the kitchen and what kind of food will be on the menu.
Congratulations (and thank you) to Alexander Lobrano for setting expectations while comprehensively paving the way to the best dining suggestions.
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