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Alexander Lobrano

(Contributing Editor, Paris by Mouth) Alexander Lobrano was European Correspondent for Gourmet magazine from 1999 until its recent closing, and has written about food and travel for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Departures, Conde Nast Traveler, and many other publications in the United States and the United Kingdom since he moved to Paris in 1986. He is the author of Hungry for Paris: The Ultimate Guide to the City’s 102 Best Restaurants (Random House). He is currently working on another epicurean volume, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times T Style, among many other publications.

Endangered French Regional Cooking

In Paris, it’s possible to do a Tour de France without a bicycle, since one of the most unique layers of the city’s food chain is its many French regional tables. Indeed the cooking of almost every corner of France is available in Paris, although some regions, notably the Auvergne and Alsace, are better represented than others, like the north of France, which has just a single address, Le Graindorge, vaunting such Flemish favorites as waterzooï (chicken and vegetables stewed in cream enriched bouillon) or carbonade, beef cooked in a sauce of beer.Read More »Endangered French Regional Cooking

What we want when we say the ‘B’ word

 So picture this: you’re walking down the street in Paris on a cold night, and you’re hungry. All of a sudden something smells so damned good, so rich winey earthy and rutting, that you absolutely have to hunt it down. You work out that this irresistible olfactory lure is emanating from a ramshackle looking little place on the corner. You step inside, and one of the most power sentimental semaphores ever created—the red-and-white checked table cloth, tells you that yes, you’re in the right place, this is a real Paris bistro.

Read More »What we want when we say the ‘B’ word

The Menace of Culinary Displacement in Paris

After a recent morning spent playing restaurant ping-pong via email with my friend Dorie, it dawned on me. We were trying to create an eating itinerary of traditional French bistros for a pair of retired chefs visiting from Oklahoma, and it proved to be a daunting task. Why? These men were coming to France to eat epic Gallic grub—you know, blanquette de veau, boeuf bourguignon, and coq au vin—and even with the difficulty of summer opening hours notwithstanding, it startled me to realize there’s just not a lot of that on offer in Paris anymore.

Read More »The Menace of Culinary Displacement in Paris