Putting Food (Obsession) In Context

I recently quit a long-held day job in order to write full-time [trumpets! confetti!] about food. In making this decision, I had to consider a range of possible negative outcomes: abject poverty, creeping obesity, and budding alcoholism. I hadn’t considered, for all my worrying, the risk of becoming one with my pyjamas.

Since October, my days have been patterned by the need to consume and then write about food. A typical day would find me coming to life with a pot of coffee and an episode of Glee, then sitting down to write for ten straight hours. There was no need, before hitting the shower and heading out for another meal, to leave the screen or my slippers.

Thank goodness that Context Travel came along and recruited me to lead their Paris food walks. This respected outfit, which boasts David Lebovitz and Louisa Chu as alumni, organizes food crawls and a market tours for very small groups. My job is to show up, wearing proper clothes, and to share food and stories. Armed with a generous tasting budget, I lead a parade through some of the cities best bakeries, cheese shops, butchers, fish mongers, wine caves, chocolate stores and pastry shops. Every mouthful – from crunchy baguette to runny brie to fatty rillette to briny sea urchin to silky chocolate mousse to buttery kouign amman – has a story and a context, and sharing these with real-live humans (as opposed to a computer screen) is incredibly fun.

And speaking of fun, on May 13 Context Travel will be sponsoring a special dinner at Hidden Kitchen, hosted by yours truly and David Lebovitz. Here’s D-Leb’s delightful take on the event:

On May 13, I’ll be hosting a dinner at the always-booked Hidden Kitchen in association with the folks at Context Travel. Local food gem Meg Zimbeck will join me, and aside from a super dinner, guests will also get a copy of my upcoming book, Ready For Dessert. There’s just a few spaces left, so if you’ve been dying to try Hidden Kitchen, or would like to get a closer look at that worrisome bald spot that appears to be growing on the backside of my head, sign up.

If you’d like to read a much-longer description or to sign up for this event, you can do so here.

If you’re not able to snag a seat, but would like to check out an “ordinary” dinner (if ten courses + wine pairings can be considered ordinary) at Hidden Kitchen, click here.

There’s also the fab Paris Supper Club hosted by Alexander Lobrano and Wendy Lyn. Whereas our Context dinner is a one-time affair, the dinners hosted by these two food luminaries will be organized on a regular basis. More here.