David's Sweet Life

Several years ago, when I went to Paris, I rode the Metro from my teensy hotel in the 80th arrondissement, to meet a food blogger I admired but had never met, Mr. David Lebovitz. As I came up the stairs (or was it an escalator?) I beheld a vision: there, standing before me, was a smiley man holding what looked to be the world's largest picnic basket. David toured me around and I made a video, which you can watch here (sorry for the song choice! (what was I thinking??)):

To quote a cliché, that was the start of a beautiful friendship. And friendship is what David Lebovitz offers in his brand new book, "The Sweet Life in Paris." If you've ever been intimidated by the French, their culture, their food, their people, David is there to hold your hand and walk you through what it takes to get by in La Belle Francais.

I don't want to spoil any of David's stories, but from the moment he arrives (his first meal: a warm goat cheese salad) to the moment he joins their ranks and becomes a pushy, selfish walker, David's takes you, step-by-step through his very personal, very funny assimilation process.

"After living here a while," writes David, on pg. 82, "I didn't see any reason why I should have to wait in line behind anyone else either." David's line-cutting technique is something he tried to get me to do when he came to the Union Square Greenmarket, in another video (I should make a boxed set!) from October, 2007:

https://youtu.be/Nul1-IBsE7A

These videos really capture what I love most about David: the combination of sense of humor and genuine passion for what he does. This shines through in his book, a book I have no doubt you all will love. The video of me reading it will be uploaded shortly.