Calling All Foodies: Patricia Wells is Selling Culinary Antiques

In the 40 years that Patricia and Walter Wells have spent at their home Chanteduc in Provence, they amassed an incredible collection of epicurean objects and decorative antiques...including Julia Child's stove.

Patricia is a journalist, author, and cooking instructor who has lived in France since 1980. A former reporter for The New York Times, she was global restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune for more than 25 years. She has written 15 books, is a four-time James Beard Award winner, and has been honored by the French government for her contributions to French culture. 

Walter is the former executive editor of the Herald Tribune and the couple has split their time between Paris and Provence since 1984. 

I've known Patricia for many years and would love and admire her even if she weren't from my hometown of Milwaukee!

At Chanteduc, the couple have devoted their lives to sharing Provence's rich traditions and culture, primarily through their wildly popular, always-sold-out cooking school. And now having recently decided to take a break from offering classes in both Paris and Provence (more on that below), Patricia and Walter are selling some of their collection through an exclusive "At Home with Patricia Wells" sale organized by Susannah and Hugh Cameron of Chez Pluie Provence.

Together, they've created a special on-line site where you can view and purchase available pieces. For those of you with your eye on Julia's stove, Patricia is keeping it for now (who wouldn't?) but you'll find a fantastic selection of other gorgeous pieces to choose from. (Curious about how Patricia came to own Julia's stove? That story is here.)

The sale website has just gone live (at 4:30 pm France time today)...and you can shop and purchase by clicking here or here! 

As to the future, Patricia tells me "we are truly taking a break" but that she's offering two Truffle Classes next January in Provence...with dates to be set soon. Otherwise she's still taking small groups — usually led by previous students — but says nothing is set in stone at the moment, either in Provence or Paris. 

"After 44 years of working all day and going to dinner (also working, well yes!)," she says, "we're spending more time on culture: museums, music, theater, ballet...whatever we have time for! It’s wonderful!” 

Another Fine French Book Giveaway!

Whether you fancy yourself a modern-day Escoffier or rarely set foot in the kitchen, the new book Dejeuner en Provence (Lunch in Provence) will definitely get your jus flowing! Just published by Flammarion in French and in English, it's a cookbook, scrapbook, photo essay and love letter to the exquisite food, wine, people and traditions of La Belle Provence. From petanque to pistou, from lavender-drenched landscapes to lemon-confit tarts, the book captures all the evocative ingredients (both culinary and otherwise) that make the South of France one of the world's most-beloved destinations.

I've got three copies of the English version to give away so read on...

Lunch in Provence? ''The meal need not be grand but the experience can surely be,'' writes author, critic and cooking teacher Patricia Wells, in the book's introduction. ''...In Provence we have the chance--not the promise--of dining outdoors at lunchtime 365 days a year. Even in the winter months of November through March, the blazing sun might decide to shine warm and bright, and that's when we take out our crisp, white, monogrammed linens, ceramic knife rests, silver cutlery and fine wine glasses, and construct a culinary celebration.

''Lunch in Provence always offers the potential of bringing you new levels of happiness, discovery, contentment,'' Patricia continues. ''The possibilities are endless.''

This new 232-page hardcover was a labor of love between Rachael McKenna, a New Zealand-born author/photographer now living in the Languedoc region of Southern France, and Michelin-starred chef Jean-André Charial, who earned his world-wide reputation at the L'Oustau de Baumanière, the legendary Relais & Châteaux hotel and restaurant nestled in the valley below the medieval hilltop village of Les Baux. Wolfgang Puck and Georges Perrier are just two of the many well-known chefs who worked there over the years.

Baumanière was founded by Jean-André's grandfather, chef Raymond Thuilier, back in 1945, the year Jean-André was born. The family business later expanded to include the restaurant and hotel La Cabro d'Or (Les Baux), the restaurant and hotel La Prieuré (Villeneuve-les-Avignon) and the restaurant La Place (Maussane). But the beautiful Baumanière remains the family's flagship, having held three Michelin stars for an astounding 35 years. While Jean-André handed over day-to-day kitchen duties to chef Sylvestre Wahid in 2005, he remains involved in every aspect of operations.
 
To create the book, Rachael crisscrossed Provence for a year, photographing the markets, farms, waters and vineyards that produce the essential elements of Charial's cuisine. (''A dish, a meal, is only as good as its ingredients,'' the chef proclaims.) Then the duo settled into the kitchen at Baumanière to carefully select and photograph the 35 recipes that best capture the essence of Jean-André's sun-drenched, Mediterranean menus.

''Great chefs express their feelings through their food,'' Charial says. His thoughts on cooking, dining and Provence are scattered throughout the book, along with those of Frédéric Mistral, Alexandre Dumas, Peter Mayle and many others.
 
For this giveaway, the fine folks at Baumanière have offered me three copies of the English-language version of the book. To enter, simply leave a comment below, under ''comments.'' And please don't forget to leave us your email address, so we can reach you if you win. (Signing in with your Google account is not enough.) Tip: The more creative your comment, the better! And if you'd like to go ahead and buy the book, you can do that on Amazon US here, UK here or France here.

Bon Chance and Bon Appetit!

My Friends Have Been Terribly Busy...

So what do you think we do all day here in France? Sit around eating foie gras, drinking fancy wine and sniffing lavender? Well, ok--fair enough. But many of us are also hard at work producing awesome things to help you get more out of your precious time in the country. Here are five new goodies that might interest you: an eBook, an app and three book books. All were produced by friends or by online blogging buddies.

Incurable homesickness was only the beginning of Ellise Pierce’s troubles when she moved to Paris five years ago...she was soon out of cash, out of work and barely able to speak the language. But as those things often go, her longing for home led the way to a whole new career. To ease the blues, Ellise--originally from Denton, Texas--began making tacos, rolling out tortillas, and blending up salsas. Word got out among the American expat community—et voila!—a business was born: Tex-Mex catering and cooking classes under the name Cowgirl Tacos. Next, Ellise launched the CowgirlChef.com blog to chronicle her culinary capers. “When I first moved to Paris, I wanted to reproduce my favorite foods from home,'' she remembers, ''so I figured out how to swap Thai or Moroccan chiles for jalapeños, and to use a blend of mozzarella and mimolette cheeses (both are quite melty) for enchiladas. But the longer I lived here, the more interested I became in what was right in front of me. My life became one big culinary adventure.” Ellise's new cookbook, her first, is called Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French Accent and it came out last month. Cowgirl Chef is a love letter to this period in her life—an assembly of her best Franco-Texan recipes accompanied by personal stories that provide a peek into the joys and frustrations (both culinary and cultural) of living with a Frenchman in Paris.  Plus, the book is full of Ellise's favorite “Cowgirlified Frenchy” recipes, such as Chicken Empanadas with Cilantro Yogurt, Cauliflower Galettes with Chipotle Crème Fraiche, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Soufflés and Cowgirl Quiche. The message? You can make simple, inventive and comforting dishes wherever you hang your hat. Ellise is currently on book tour in the US and you can see the schedule (under ''calendar'') on her website here. Meanwhile, Cowgirl Chef is widely available but you can order it from Amazon here.

Planning a trip to Paris? The creators of the Paris Insiders Guide have emptied their Rolodexes and opened their little black book of gourmet food addresses in Paris. And it's all in The Paris Gourmet Food eGuide, 2012 Edition. Diane Shaskin and Mark Craft, who are also authors of the award-wining culinary travel book, How to Cook Bouillabaisse in 37 Easy Steps, have written this 75-page, full-color downloadable guide, packed with the latest tips to help you find the best culinary addresses in Paris. It includes Paris chocolatiers, epiceries, boulangeries, speciality food shops, fromageries, cooking classes and 70 of their favorite Paris restaurants. Diane and Mark have spent the past 15 years visiting and living in Paris, where they spend their time culling Paris addresses, interviewing Paris food store owners, taking cooking classes and dining at endless Paris restaurants. ''We've cooked and eaten their way through a small fortune,'' Mark tells me. The Paris Gourmet Food eGuide also includes a live-link map with all the best addresses at your fingertips (if your fingers happen to be on a computer keyboard, that is). To download the $8.99 eGuide, click here. 

Two Canadians with a shared love of Provence have created a new app for mobile devices. Just launched in time for summer, Edible Heritage is an audio walking guide for Aix-en-Provence. This app is suitable for both Android devices (from Google Play) and Apple (from iTunes). The idea was hatched over a few glasses of wine by business partners Laurence Bry (Provence Confidential) and Carolyne Kauser-Abbott (Ginger and Nutmeg). The app was designed for travelers who want more than just a tour of the must- see sights. ''It's a journey that allows the user to understand local customs, to delve into the tastes and meanings of local food and wine,'' says Carolyne. ''We've created just the right unstuffy balance between bits of history and bites of delicious treats.' Users will learn about things just as historically relevant to Provence as art and architecture, such as food and personal comforts. ''We've uncovered many little-known facts about these specialties to help travelers better appreciate the delightful world of Aix,'' Carolyne says. Best of all, the app requires no network or wireless connections for full functionality; all info, photos, audio and mapping points are integrated within it. Edible Heritage is $2.99 (Canadian) or roughly €2.30. For more info, click here. You can also like Edible Heritage on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and check them out on Pinterest.

An American writer (from Florida) married to a French man and now living in Banon, Carrieanne Le Bras wrote the book that she wishes she had found when she became pregnant in France. ''As my vocabulary and knowledge of the medical system grew, so did my confidence,'' she reports. ''This book is for expats who need help with pregnancy-related terminologies, and want to know what to expect from the French medical system.'' Chapters are in English and French, with key vocabulary words that every pregnant woman should know. It's loaded with facts, observations and personal stories about being pregnant in France. Practice sentences and answers are at the end of each chapter. Also included is an emergency contact page for placing near a telephone and an appendix filled with additional medical terminologies. To read more about Carrieanne, click here. You can buy the book in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon here while other formats are for sale on Carrieanne's blog here.

Best Paris Stories was released in paperback last week, bringing together the winners of the 2011 Paris Short Story Contest. Under the direction of Paris Writers News, the anthology features stories selected by leading figures from the English-speaking literary community in France. Judges included Diane Johnson (author of Le Divorce), Elizabeth Bard (author of Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes), Charles Trueheart (director of the American Library in Paris), Nicola Keegan (author of Swimming), Janet Skeslien Charles  (author of Moonlight in Odessa) and others. Best Paris Stories is available at bookstores such as The Red Wheelbarrow and on Amazon in both ebook and paperback. You can follow them on twitter at @parisshortstory on on their website here.  And if you'd like to buy the book, it's on Amazon here.  


And in case you missed it, my recent story about Patricia Wells' new Food Lover's Guide to Paris app is here...

The New Food Lover's Guide to Paris App

Back in the day, when sightseeing or visiting a new city for work, I'd head out in the morning carrying a guidebook, a list of things I wanted to see and do, assorted scraps of paper scribbled with who knows what, restaurant names and addresses and, if it was an eating trip or I was interviewing chefs, the Zagat Guide. Plus, of course, a notebook, a camera and a map. Hardly what you want to schlep around with you on a full day of touring. Add to that all the little things one picks up along the way on a day out...and that makes for a heavy tote bag indeed. Then came digital and everything changed. Now when traveling, I hit the street with little more than my iPhone. And I'm always looking for ways to streamline the process further still, talking to other travelers and travel writers about what gadgets, apps, sites, programs and services they find most useful. Since many of these tools are free or cheap, it's tempting to grab them all...and some people do. But for me the key is to find the best option, master it and move on. (Still, I have three GPS apps on my phone and no real idea how to use any of them.) Whether I'm on my tablet or my iPhone--or at home on the desktop researching--I'm always hunting for a quicker, better way get the info I need on the road, without getting bogged down, digitally, by everything that I don't.

That was a very long winded way of saying: check out Patricia Wells' new Food Lover’s Guide to Paris app, which came out this week. I haven't played around with it yet but knowing Patricia, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t great. She and her team spent well over a year visiting and revisiting, tasting and retesting, writing and fact-checking, while her tech experts were  busy developing and designing an impressive compilation of 350 of the city’s ultimate culinary destinations. You’ll find old favorites and scores of new discoveries, from sushi spots and creperies to mom-and-pop bistros to extravagant Michelin three-star restaurants. Also included are Patricia’s favorite wine bars, bakeries, pastry shops, chocolatiers, fromagiers, markets and specialty shops. Bookmark your favorites for a personalized list.

The $4.99 app is in English and compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch, running at least iOS 5. It will also work on iPad running iOS 5, but in a smaller iPhone format.

When Patricia first published The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris in 1984, it was called “the book that cracks the code.” It has sold 300,000 copies, been updated four times and was published in five languages. (A new version is in the works but won’t be out for about two years.)

“Much has changed on the Paris food scene since the latest edition of the book was published in 1999,’’ Patricia tells me. “There’s a whole new group of energetic young cooks, expanding the culinary ‘musts’ into upcoming neighborhoods. A fresh generation of bakers, pastry chefs and chocolate makers is bringing us all new looks, flavors and excitement.’’

Wherever you are in Paris, the app’s map will show you (with color-coded pins and GPS coordinates) the closest recommended restaurants, shops and markets. Each selection includes commentary, address, phone, opening hours, web site and email addresses where applicable; photos are included for many of them. You can call numbers directly, click through to web sites and get directions too. Contents are browsable by category or neighborhood, or by restaurant specifics such as price, cuisine, specialties of the house and details such as vegetarian- friendly or Michelin-star rating. The app also contains Patricia’s dining dictionary, an A-Z glossary of French culinary terms to help you translate menus on the spot.

For those who don’t know Patricia’s background, she was global food critic for the International Herald Tribune for more than 25 years. She’s a former New York Times food writer and the author of 15 books, including her upcoming Cooking With Patricia, out next year. With her husband, Walter Wells, Patricia has lived in France since 1980 and runs the popular cooking school At Home with Patricia Wells, with locations in Paris and Provence. 

For more info on the new app, click here. For Patricia’s website and blog, click here. You can also find her on Facebook  and Twitter. And for some of Patricia’s Provence restaurant recommendations, click here…but please note the story is two years old so some info may have changed.

Where Would Patricia Wells Eat?

Where should we eat in Provence? As a food writer living in the South of France, it's the one question I'm asked more than any other. So this week I turned to none other than Patricia Wells for help.  

Patricia is a journalist, author and cooking teacher, an American who has lived in Paris since 1980. Her groundbreaking "Food Lover’s Guide to Paris," which debuted in 1984, was hailed as “the book that broke the secret code to Paris.” For 25 years Patricia was the restaurant critic for The International Herald Tribune and is the only woman--and only foreigner--to serve as restaurant critic for a French publication, the newsweekly L’Express. Patricia is the author of 11 books including the memoir "We’ve Always Had Paris…and Provence," which she wrote with her husband Walter, the former executive editor of the Herald Tribune.  In 2011, Patricia will publish two books: "Salad as a Meal" and "Simply Truffles." 

For several weeks each year, Patricia and Walter open their 18th-century Provençal home (in Vaison la Romaine) to a small number of participants hungry to soak up the food, wine, and culture of the region. The five-day program includes hands-on cooking classes (using as much home-grown produce as possible), plus guided visits to markets, vineyards, shops, and local restaurants. Patricia also offers a truffle class in January and classes in Paris as well. 

Here Patricia shares some of her current favorite restaurants, none of them more than 30 minutes from her village of Vaison. Bon App! 

BRIN D’OLIVIER. A lovely spot in the center of town, warming décor and fireplace in winter, beautiful terrace in summer. Excellent modern food and a truffle menu in winter. 4, rue de Ventoux, Vaison.  Restaurant-Lebrindolivier.com or 04 90 28 74 79. Closed Wednesday. 

GAJUELA. New, with a simple good menu, great lamb and veggies, nice wine list and terrace. In Le Barroux (past Entrechaux and Malaucene). 04 90 62 36 94. Dinner only. Closed Sunday and Monday. 

LE GRAND PRE and bistro PRÈFACE. A favorite. Great ambiance, terrace, delightful with a great wine list. On the Route de Vaison in Roaix. legrandpre.com, 04 90 46 18 12. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 

LES ABEILLES. Great terrace, wonderful food, good wine list. The owners are Marlies and Johannes Sailer. It's at #4, Route de Vaison in Sablet. abeilles-sablet.com or  04 90 12 38 96. 

LE PONT DE L’ORME.  A nice inexpensive restaurant in a restored 200-year-old farmhouse in Malaucene. (Drive towards Malaucene and just after a row of trees, before the roundabout, turn right when you see the sign to Suzette.)  Lepontdelorme.com or 04 90 46 17 50. 

L’OUSTALET in center of Gigondas. New owners and a great terrace view. restaurant-oustalet.fr or 04 90 12 30 03. 

LE TOURNE AU VERRE. A nice wine bar...simple but good. On the Route de Sainte Cécile in Cairanne, about a 15-minute drive from Vaison. letourneauverre.com or 04 90 30 72 18. 

LA BAGUETTE (VIETNAMESE). A huge menu, inexpensive but good. In Vaison la Romaine on the Cours Taulignan, the main street perpendicular to the Post Office. 04 90 36 15 04. 

LE PRE DU MOULIN. Owners Caroline and Pascal Alonso have one Michelin star. Good food, pleasant setting. Route de Saint Cecile les Vignes in Sérignan du Comtat. predumoulin.com or 04 90 70 14 55. Closed Monday lunch. 

LE SAINT HUBERT. A very old-fashioned family bistro with great truffle omelets and a good wine list. In Entrechaux. restaurantsthubert.free.fr or 04 90 46 00 05. 

LE TEMPS DE VIVRE. New, with wonderful food, bargain menus and a good wine list. In Le Farjons, on the outskirts of Uchaux.  For the website, click here or call 04 90 40 66 00. Closed Wednesday. 

VINOE & CO. A wonderful wine bar in the center of Avignon, at 31, rue Saint Jean le Vieux. vinoe-co.com [Editors note: Michel Granier has closed Vinoe and will announce his new plans soon.] 

For more info on Patricia Wells, her books and her classes, click here.  

Photos: Patricia and Walter Wells; the memoir they co-wrote; Le Saint Hubert, one of Patricia's favorite nearby spots.