My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris

By Alexander Lobrano

Until Alec Lobrano landed a job in the glamorous Paris office of Women’s Wear Daily, his main experience of French cuisine had been the occasional supermarket éclair. An interview with the owner of France’s best cheese shop for his first article nearly proves a disaster, because he speaks almost no French. As he slowly rises to become the taste arbiter of the world’s best food city, Lobrano describes the lessons learned from leading culinary figures, the dining revolution caused by the birth of the modern bistro, his favorite and least favorite restaurants and most memorable meals, what it’s like to write for the French, and why our show-off culture is bad for food.