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THE SWEET LIFE IN PARIS

David Lebovitz

Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City

From the New York Times bestselling author of My Paris Kitchen and L'Appart, a deliciously funny, offbeat, and irreverent look at the city of lights, cheese, chocolate, and other confections.
Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris ever since he first visited the city and after a nearly two-decade career as a pastry chef and cookbook author, he finally moved to Paris to start a new life. Having crammed all his worldly belongings into three suitcases, he arrived, hopes high, at his new apartment in the lively Bastille neighborhood. But he soon discovered it's a different world en France.

From learning the ironclad rules of social conduct to the mysteries of men's footwear, from shopkeepers who work so hard not to sell you anything to the etiquette of working the right way around the cheese plate, here is David's story of how he came to fall in love withand even understandthis glorious, yet sometimes maddening, city.

When did he realize he had morphed into un vrai parisien? It might have been when he found himself considering a purchase of men's dress socks with cartoon characters on them. Or perhaps the time he went to a bank with 135 euros in hand to make a 134-euro payment, was told the bank had no change that day, and thought it was completely normal. Or when he found himself dressing up to take out the garbage because he had come to accept that in Paris appearances and image mean everything.

Once you stop laughing, the more than fifty original recipes, for dishes both savory and sweet, such as Pork Loin with Brown SugarBourbon Glaze, Braised Turkey in Beaujolais Nouveau with Prunes, Bacon and Bleu Cheese Cake, Chocolate-Coconut Marshmallows, Chocolate Spice Bread, Lemon-Glazed Madeleines, and MochaCrème Fraîche Cake, will have you running to the kitchen for your own taste of Parisian living.

Author of The Perfect Scoop, the complete guide to making the best ice cream and frozen desserts at home, Ready for Dessert, a compilation of baking favorites, from an extra-moist Fresh Ginger Cake, to crunchy Double-Chocolate Biscotti, My Paris Kitchen, stories and recipes from the glorious foods markets and shops in Paris, and Drinking French, recipes and stories inspired by the iconic café drinks, apéritifs, and cocktails of France.
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Published 2011-03-01 by Crown / Broadway Books

Comments

David Lebovitz is the greatest thing to happen to dessert since the spoon, but this time he shows that beyond his artful nose and flawless taste, he also has a keen reporter's eye. If Paris intrigues, excites, or merely interests you, read this book.

An insouciant and instructive frolic, written in the same hepcat, casual-but-intelligent style familiar to readers of his blog.

David Lebovitz has produced another gorgeous and superbly crafted book, but this one is a smart, warm, and funny guide to the tasty side of the City of Light.

Cooks aren't usually such good writersso funny, skeptical, and observant. He's a wonderful one. Also, I'm a fervent fan of his ice-cream book, so I can't wait to cook my way through his other recipes.

There's probably little else as fun as living vicariously through Lebovitz... especially when it involves chocolate spice bread or lemon glazed madeleines.

The Sweet Life in Paris offers an insider's feel for experiencing real urban France beyond the rarefied world of Michelin stars.