Emily in France 🇫🇷 Please, Don't Call Me
Phones scare me.
Those who know me know that it is highly unlikely I will answer the phone when it rings. And those who really know me know that even though I'm not answering, I'm probably watching it, panicked, until it stops, so I can text, "You OK?"
I'm afraid of the phone, because I believe the only real reason someone would want to call me is to convey news so bad it must be transmitted immediately. I'm even more afraid of the phone because some people – the ones without a horrible incident to report – might just be "calling to chat," and I am bad, in no particular order, at the following:
small talk
normal greetings
getting off the phone
parsing speech without visual cues
taking unplanned work breaks (or, let's be honest, any work breaks)
If you've ever called me and I haven't answered, please don't take it badly. Consider sending a voice text instead. Voice texts are nice. Also acceptable: texting to ask permission to call, or subjecting me to exposure therapy to prove that even though I have inherited my father's knack for hanging up without really having said goodbye, you're generally cool with that, cool with me, and won't make me figure out a better way to end a call than my current favorite, "Well, let me let you go."
Damn. Now I need to figure out a new signoff.
What I'm Eating
I am, at long last, bringing this section back! Restaurants are still closed, here in Paris, but pastry shops, deemed "essential" by the French government (bafflingly? Thankfully? A mix of both?) remain open. This week, I'm breaking down the cakes at Sucre Coeur, a Montmartre pastry shop with gluten-free and vegan options among its creative, modern cakes. Among the ones I tried? An entremets with a chocolate chip cookie filling.
What I'm Writing
1. Cheddar cheese is naturally yellow; Brie and Bordeaux make the perfect pair. These common misconceptions (and more!) are about to be challenged by cheese experts in the heart of fromage. For Mashed.
 2. Broccoli is good for you for more reason than one. Find out more at Organic Authority.
3. Is the phrase "pig face" a deterrent or a draw on a restaurant menu? For me, it's the latter, so I was thrilled to write about Stephanie Izard's iteration of this dish for the Inside Hook.
Things I'm Reading
1. The Undocumented Americans is a heartwrenching story of resilience that nevertheless remains incredibly readable. I tore through this nonfiction account of the lives of a handful of America's undocumented residents from Karla Cornejo Villavicencio in a day. More on the blog.
2. Social distancing measures have led to an unforeseen rise in the desire for liminal spaces. In the New Yorker.
3. Pre-Covid, Ann Mah took a literary tour of Beverly Cleary's childhood home. She muses on the trip in the wake of the author's death, in the New York Times.
A bientôt !