Customer Reviews

The Food Lover's Guide to Paris

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I consider "Food Lovers Guide to Paris" an old friend, I was really pleased to see a timely update to one of the most useful travel books I know. I highly recommend it to anyone with a good appetite who is contemplating a visit to the City of Light.

In this fourth version of her classic, Ms Wells again does a superb job of ferreting out and reviewing top notch restaurants, cafes, bakeries, pastry shops, wine bars, candy makers, markets, and a myriad of specialty shops - anything and everything that has to do with food in the food capital of the world. Some notable names from the third edition have been dropped and some exciting new ones added.

Some restaurants have been in all four guides, but an update was certainly necessary for those who enjoy the finest of fine cuisine: three years ago, the celebrated superstar chef Joel Robuchon retired. Today, several of his talented former assistants are now running their own kitchens in Paris, and their food can be absolutely stunning. My girlfriend and I visited two of these restaurants last autumn, (during the wild mushroom season, of course!), and were blown away by the exquisite food at both establishments.

Those looking for dining bargains will not be disappointed, as a good many of the recommended restaurants are not only quite affordable, but also offer wonderful value for your money. Good food, simply but imaginatively prepared. Included amongst the latter are several wonderful regional restaurants, if, for instance, you would like to try some of the specialties of the Southwest or Provence.

As there are other serious restaurant guides available, perhaps the most uniquely useful chapters in the book are those devoted to specialty shops. Whether you are looking for fresh truffles, old cookbooks, designer china, or the most specialized and esoteric of cookware, using this book you will be able to find it.

As another reviewer pointed out that the book features a number of recipes (I think the reviewer was peeved by this), I thought I would add my two cents: every recipe I have tried from other editions of this book has been at least very good; some have been superb.

Finally, as usual, there there are many, many explanatory notes and a very good glossary that covers a large amount of French food terminology. First time visitors to Paris will find both the notes and the glossary VERY useful.

This is the only guide that I brought with me to Paris for my 2 months stay there. Here's what I like about this book:

1. The food dictionary on the back! Eventhough I can speak/write/read some French that I don't need to carry regular dictionary around, the food terms sometimes confusing and this book has an excellent section on it.

2. The recipes are worth trying. I tried her recipes for madeleine and financiers, both turned out excellent.

3. Ms. Wells not only give restaurant guides but also specialty shops, bakery, etc. Some of the recommendations are well secluded from mainstream tourists. A trully excellent find.

Here's what I don't like about this book:

1. Many of the restaurants featured are expensive, especially for 2 months stay in Paris. I think there's plenty of cheap and reasonably good food that I could find. I used Ms. Well's recommendation for weekends/special occasions.

2. I think this book is a bit too heavy/thick to carry around.

I bought this book (from Amazon of course) about 2 months ago. I read it cover to cover before our Paris trip. We ate in about half a dozen of the resaurants. She was completely accurate. . . the prices, the suggestions on what to order, the hours, everything. In case you're going, L'Astier was our overwhelming favorite. We also used the info on kitchen shops, patisseries, boulangeries and specialty shops.

Her title is accurate. If you're not a "food lover," don't bother. If you're obsessed like my family, don't go without it.

This guide covers all the bases - restaurants, markets, shops (both food and housewares), and food as culture. The book is not organized in a "list of the best" fashion. It is organized by subject matter - cafe, bakery, marche', etc. - and then by arrondissement within each category. If you are looking for short and quick rundowns, this book requires more commitment on your part. But for an overall secure sense of food in Paris, this book is correct, insightful, and educational. We are "food people", and this book really made our trip enjoyable.

Although I find her engaging, I have to admit my experience with Patricia Wells' guide books and recipes has been less than foolproof. Although this book contains a wealth of useful details, in my experience she is far too generous with many mediocre restaurants and I have had several meals I considered downright bad based on this book. Perhaps a part of the problem is that, unlike most restaurant reviewers, Ms. Wells is well-known and well-recognized among Parisian proprietors. She loves them, they love her. As a result, I suspect the service - and in some cases the food - are often a notch or so better for her than for the average patron.

We recently returned from Paris and this book was of great value to us in finding wonderful food. One day we walked all over Paris stopping in first at a cheese shop recommended in the book, then a chocolate shop then a bakery finally taking all the food back to our hotel for a wonderful meal. The extensive French/English glossery in the back was also great but we wish there was an English/French one as well. We have tried one of the recipes at home and it was great. Only one place in the book did we find no longer in business at the listed location but that is to be expected since things change.

Just came back from 8 days in Paris and I had studied and marked on a map Wells' recommended cafes, boulangeries, patisseries, fromageries and specialty food stores. Note that I wasn't so much interested in restaurants but I've NEVER known Patricia Wells to be wrong so I can't imagine her recomendations wouldn't be excellent. Although it would be great if her book were updated again since it hasn't been in 5 years I found most of the places still there and loaded with thoroughly delicious treats. Her website patriciawells.com has updates for restaurants for those interested. The French really do food right and the baguettes, cheese, wine and pastries were exquisite. Each place has certain items that are especially delightful. Gosselin really does have a superb baguette, Calixte has croissants and pain au chocolat that are really magnificent, Malineau has fruit tarts which are exquiisite, Martin has wonderful baguette sandwiches to take with you and munch on and Kayser has many wonderful delights. Go to Paris and you will come to know what Bon Appetit can really mean.

My husband and I left for Paris with the usual Zagat's and Michelin's . . . a friend had given us Ms. Well's _Food Lover's Guide_ . . . I argued for taking it; my husband thought it too big and heavy. Since I was the person who had read it cover to cover twice, I won. After three days, we left Zags and Michs on the shelf in the closet, and consulted Ms. Wells constantly. It helped at every moment, from the first baguette in the morning, til the last cafe at night--and certianly in between, distinguishing between all of the wonderful food, kitchen, and food/gift shops. We will not go back to Paris without it.

In fact, we will likely read it all year, savoring our memories, and getting ready for next years' trip!

Yes, some of the restaurant reviews are out of date, but this is so much more than just a restaurant guide. It also gives details about markets, boulangeries, pattiseries and other treats and traiteurs. Gold dust.

One of the best ways to eat in Paris is to buy a baguette de tradition and a fresh piece of really STINKY and TOTALLY unpasteurised fromage and eat it in a jardin or parc. (I reccomend the rue Cler for this you can get your fromage from Christine and your pain from Poujairan and your patisserie from Lenotre - all spellings approximate!- and eat them around the Invalides).

This book tells you how to do all that, and how to find precious treats like Berthillon ice cream and Christian Constant chocolates and Le Stubli's cakes.... I could go on but it's making me too hungry.

But a new edition is certainly sorely needed. For example, Andre Lerch is retired, and has been replaced in rue Cardinal Lemoine by a store selling Tour D'Argent memorabilia. Conversely, the book omits the magnificent Pierre Herme (probably the best and most astonishingly innovative patissier in Paris, and it's in rue Bonaparte - just spot the queue). In the meantime, boulangerie fans could acquire the Guide des Boulangeres (which is regularly updated with a pamphlet supplement) or the Michelin single-city food guides; both can be got from the fabulous cookbook store in the Rue Dante, which has very helpful English-speaking staff. And for restaurants nothing beats Gault-Millau (provided your French is good - it's idiomatic).

But Wells is still worth having, especially for non-French speakers. She points in most of the right directions. You CAN update her book a bit by visiting her website.

And her devotion to Paris and Parisian food makes you want to sing aloud. It was this book that helped me become a raving Paris foodie, and I'm still very grateful.

I just returned from Paris and found this book to be very helpful but a bit heavy to tote around. Perhaps the future edition could be divided into 2 volumes - one for the right bank and one for the left. I was extremely pleased with a restaurant called Maceo on rue des Petits-Champs - wonderful food but disappointed with Le Grizzli- horrible service.