Heidi Ellison
Panda Panda Restaurant
Cool Chinese Food
Panda Panda is part of the recent explosion in “Asian” restaurants in Paris. Thankfully, this new generation no longer tries to cater to French tastes (by pretty much omitting any hot stuff) but aims for quality and authenticity, without neglecting … Read More
Paris Update Press Review
Scenes in Paris, Painterly News, Smelly Myths
A compendium of good reads about Paris and France in English. Paris in literature Octave magazine, produced by the Opéra de Paris, has an excellent story on the way writers like Dumas and Balzac used the streets of Paris as … Read More
Cézanne and the Master Painters: A Dream of Italy
From Italy to France and Back Again
We often forget how much France owes to Italy. Would French cuisine have earned its reputation as the world’s best if Catherine de’ Medici hadn’t brought Italian chefs with her when she crossed the Alps to marry Henry II? And … Read More
Laïa Restaurant
Weather-Dependent Dining
I had been trying unsuccessfully for some time to get a reservation at Laïa, attracted by its good reviews and the online photos of its lovely garden and pretty interior. After four attempts, I was finally able to book a … Read More
Paris Update Press Review
Good Reads About Paris and France in English
Controversy The Guardian reports on how a young French writer, Pauline Harmange, became famous when she wrote a book claiming the right to hate men. “Ensauvagement,” a word loaded with racist overtones, sparked controversy and fear when used by a … Read More
L’Atelier de la Nature
Americans in Giverny
Americans can’t travel to France right now, but their paintings can, so the Terra Foundation for American Art has sent a batch to the Musée des Impressionnismes in Giverny and added others borrowed from the Musée d’Orsay and other French … Read More
Le Grand Bain Restaurant
Little Plates, Big Flavors
They’re young, they’re trendy, and they love their “shareable“ small plates or “tapas.” It seems like every new restaurant in Paris these days offers nothing but. I am a great fan of small plates, but I take issue with the … Read More
Adolescentes
Five Years of Teen Trauma
Director Sébastien Lifshitz is a brave man. For five years he embedded himself and his camera in the lives of two adolescent girls in the French provincial town of Brive, recording the traumas and joys of that fraught stage of … Read More
Christo et Jeanne-Claude: Paris!
Christo's Gifts to Paris
The artist Christo’s obsession with wrapping did not begin with the spectacular environmental projects he and his wife Jeanne-Claude created around the world, among them Running Fence in California, The Gates in New York City’s Central Park, Surrounded Islands in Miami and Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin. … Read More
To Restaurant
Japanese Technique + French Flair
The chic new restaurant To (pronounced toe) is decidedly out of place in the laid-back area around the Canal Saint Martin in the 10th arrondissement, still a bit funky/cool in spite of the invasion of clothing stores and restaurants, most … Read More