In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman--and never went home again. This memoir swirls around two passionate love affairs-- her new beau and French cuisine. WITH RECIPES Who wouldn't want to read this book. At some point I will get around to trying her recipes and I will post my results in Gourmappetit.
This book had been on my shelf for a long time. It is about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, a lot of people are fans of Hemingway--I am not one of them--neither as a man or as an author. As I started reading I kept having the feeling that I had read this before, but as it is a good read, in spite of the Hemingway element I read it again, maybe? Hadley and Ernest had a whirlwind romance and marriage, they left the States and set sail for Paris, where they become a part of the "Lost Generation". He cheats, they divorce, they both remarry...but the love remained. This is a very good well written book.
I loved this book from its rambling quirkiness to its often insightful prose, it is a fascinating glimpse into a life of a restaurant and its chef. The author spent several months working in the kitchen of the three Michelin star Paris restaurant, Taillevant. His tenure at the restaurant culminated with a five hour meal shared with his wife, in the 19th century dining room--a meal meticulously prepared and served-just like this book. The writing is a clever juxtaposition of the meal, the back of the house, history, and the love of food.
