Emily in France 🇫🇷 When Tastes Change

An evolution in what folks expect from French food

Working as a food writer in Paris means that I often field similar questions, including but not limited to…

Why don't the French eat vegetables?

Why are French people so thin?

Why isn't the Indian food here spicy?

What are your favorite restaurants?

We’ll leave the first three for another day; today, I want to talk about my complicated relationship with the last one, my answer to which is predicated on the fact that I don't think that people are actually asking the question they think they're asking.

If I were to list my favorite restaurants in Paris, the places I frequent most often, chief among them would be a small Lebanese sandwich spot in the 5th, followed by a neighborhood hang where I’m just as likely to eat just dessert and nurse a glass of wine than have my actual dinner. I’m a stalwart at a very specific dumpling place in the 19th, and I am often in the throes of being enchanted by whatever modernist spot mashing up classic French flavors with Korean, Thai, Italian, or Chinese ones has piqued my interest of late (the more offal the better).

Generally, this is not what people are actually asking me.

Most people coming to France, I've found, are looking to eat French food, and that makes sense. I too love French food, from the working class bouillons of yore to the fine dining tables with that certain je ne sais quoi. It’s one of the main reasons why I maintain a list of my top 10 restaurants in Paris at any given time – which is usually what I send to folks who ask me the above question. It’s also why I’ve created guides to my favorite things for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner in Paris.

But when I read this recent article in Grubstreet about the final bow fusty, upmarket French spots in New York seem to be taking, it made me wonder long and hard about what people expect, now, when they come to France to dine. Do they still want the maximalism of Maxim's or the old-school vibes of Au Pied de Cochon, which delivers more on ambiance than on flavor? Are they looking for the white tablecloth experience of somewhere like Les Parisiens or the tried-and-true menu of Chez Georges? Or have I misjudged? Do they want, instead, the ease of street food or the international inflection of what locals consider staples, like shawarma or durum? Do they want to check out a bar where the wine skews natural and you're unlikely to get a seat?

I don’t have the answer… but I’m definitely considering the possibility that there’s room to be slower to editorialize the truth, the next time I field this question.

Luckily for me, my mulling on this and other foodie topics rarely takes place in a vacuum. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by some truly excellent minds and palates, including Allison Zinder, who, over the course of the past 30 years living in France and working as a chef, educator, and gastronomy guide, has cultivated a phenomenally incisive awareness of French food in both a historical and modern context.

She also let me eat cheese with her kid… the best gift of all.

I’m thrilled that Allison has launched her Food & Culture of France, with its first edition taking place this coming October. Over the course of two weeks, this new program will offer participants a deep dive into French gastronomy and history, complete with day trips to Champagne and Normandy. 

The best way to get more information is to join her virtual session on February 25th at 4 PM Eastern time. Simply click here to sign up. 

Cheese of the Week

Beecher’s Truckle used to be one of the only made-in-NYC cheeses you could get your hands on, and while sadly the Manhattan outpost of this Seattle-based creamery shuttered in late 2022, I got the chance to sample their Flagship Reserve when it was still made with local Dutch Hollow Farms’ Holstein and Jersey milk.

The Flagship Reserve is only made occasionally with the last curds on the table for a lower-moisture, higher-salt iteration of this truckle, which has a rich, creamy texture and the slightly sweet flavor shared by many American-style cheddars. The cloth binding and year of open-air aging makes it even more concentrated in flavor. And any leftovers make a banging mac and cheese.

To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.

What I’m Eating

This 11th arrondissement restaurant is a relative newcomer to a neighborhood that already seems nearly saturated with great places to eat. Indeed, the 11th is known above all for food; it’s not home to commerce or even much tourism, something that Chef-Owner Maxime Bouttier sought from the get-go, targeting clientèle whose chief interest is indeed the food. More on the blog.

What I’m Doing

1. Our next TERRE/MER retreat is on the books! Join us for cooking, ceramics, and yoga overlooking the Mediterranean from April 11 to 14. Book now to secure yoru spot!

2. Signups for the next edition of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop June 24 to 28 are open! In the meantime, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep those creative juices a-flowing.

Where I’m Going

1. To le Pantruche, to check out this innovative bistro menu for an upcoming story.

2. To Demory Paris, to chat all things beer but specifically kvass.

3. To Ireland! (But more on that next week…)

What I'm Writing

1. From the archives: In the U.S., the term “Neufchâtel” is associated with low-fat cream cheese – a shame, considering the uniquely shaped French cheese that has borne this name since the 6th century. For Curiosity.

2. Napa’s Quintessa is using architecture to make better wine. For InsideHook.

3. One may never find a beer more intrinsically linked to the history of its hometown than Leipziger Gose, an old German beer that's come back into vogue. For Eater.

What I'm Reading

1. This memoir is worthy of every single rave I’ve heard or read about it; I only regret I let it sit on the shelf so long. In Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner weaves a beautiful, heartbreaking, delicious tale of love, loss, and identity, touching upon the themes of food and language but also art, destiny, and living up to the stories we’ve long heard about ourselves.

2. This story about the unnecessary obsession with protein, which is perhaps the hill I’m most likely to die on. In Vox.

3. This exploration, in the wake of some maladroit phrasing from journalist and author Sylvie Augereau, about one of the key divides within the world of natural wine today. In Not Drinking Poison.

A bientôt !