The insider's Paris
Stephanie Curtis reports.
| More 'Front Burner' articles in this issue |
| Birthday bash |
| Bonbons in Brittany |
| Brain food |
| Nonna knows best |
| Gemütlich and gourmet |
Paris—The book that a New York Times columnist once called the "Parisian gourmet's best-kept secret" is no longer a secret. The first English language edition of Pudlo Paris, an insider's guide to Paris restaurants revised annually in French since its inception 17 years ago, debuted in New York in May 2007. Pudlo is short for Gilles Pudlowski, the guide's author, a French restaurant chronicler, food historian, novelist, and cookbook author, who began his career as a literary critic before being initiated into gastronomy by Christian Millau, creator of another famous restaurant guide, Gault-Millau. Pudlowski's voluminous reference features over 1,000 restaurants, 300 wine bars, cafes, tea salons, and gourmet shops. His entries are rated for the cuisine (noted with one to three plate-shaped icons) and by atmosphere and service (noted with one to five knives and forks) and include considerably more descriptive text than other guides. Although Pudlo rates all styles of restaurants, he is known among Parisian food lovers for discovering little-known treasures representing value for the money and for defending traditional cuisine. This year, 141 addresses make their first appearance in the guide. Pudlowski also claims to be well ahead of competing guides—"Anne Sophie-Pic, consecrated with three stars by the Michelin guide this year, was our chef of the year four years ago," says Pudlowski. "We're like the 'other' car rental company," he adds, "we try harder." The English translation of Pudlo France is scheduled to appear in April 2008.
