Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris

Like the other reviewer, I wish I'd had Clotilde's new book for my Paris trip last April. I saw several restaurant listings near the apartment I was staying at, and near the French language school I attended. The shop descriptions are also very helpful. Though in some ways such shops can be found all over the city, it is really helpful to know what the specialties may be, and what to ask for. After reading her blog for years, it is delightful to have her favorites all in one place, and in a beautifully designed book just the right size for traveling.

Clotilde's first book was a joy -- even after I had sworn off cookbooks forever -- and this one is even better. Merci, Clotilde!

Just returned from our first trip to Paris and ate at about 7-8 of the recommended restaurants/shops in this book. EVERY recommendation was perfect; I don't think I've ever had a travel guidebook that seemed so spot on! The shops Ms Dusoulier mentions are charming and stocked with impeccable products. The restaurants were all fantastic and exactly as described. Half way through the trip we ditched our other guidebook and relied exclusively on this one for food! I especially liked the listings for bakeries, cheese shops, etc. You don't usually find so many of them in guidebooks. The extra info she peppers throughout the text was also much appreciated (dining customs in France, descriptions of important dishes, etc). One of the nicest features is that the book lists the nearest Metro stop AND cross streets for all businesses. This is so much more helpful than just an address, which can be impossible to find on an unfamiliar map. The index was great too, listing places by name but also neighborhood. That was very helpful when planning where to eat, since we could just look up the neighborhood we were in at the moment and see what was nearby. Plus, it is a fun read! I read the whole thing before leaving for Paris and really enjoyed it, though I suppose I may not have enjoyed it as much if I were not visiting the city.

The only thing that would have made this book slightly more useful would have been some maps. Even if the maps weren't quite detailed enough to show everything, they would have meant we didn't always have to pull out a giant city map too. Still, that's a very small complaint and one that didn't detract at all from my enjoyment of the book.

I highly recommend this book for anyone traveling to Paris or just looking to learn more about the Paris food scene.

The restaurant suggestions are not especially interesting, if you've been to Paris before. However, the shopping venues are excellent.

I loved this guide, it included a great basic layout of Paris which I found very helpful and some "good to know" french terms and basic rules of engagement for dealing with restaurant staff. I would highly recommend this guide not just for "foodies" traveling to Paris but anyone who plans on eating and would like to avoid the tourist traps. We ran into a chinese family looking for the asian district and with Clothilde's help were able to point them in the right direct.

There are an awful lot of general guides to Parisian cafés, shops, and restaurants -- I know because I've read a bunch of them this year. But few ... no, I take it back, none of the others have the flair, the personality, the brio (what's French for "brio"?) of "Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris" by popular blogger Clotilde Dusoulier.

"Edible Adventures" is like those other books insofar as it can be rough sledding to try to sit and read 250 pages of restaurant descriptions from end to end. Far better, I think, to carry this along with you as you plan your own edible adventure and concentrate on an area that interests you most. But while so many of those other books affect the high-toned loftiness of a historian or museum docent, Clotilde's combination of exuberance and expertise makes for a much warmer and more inviting guide. I think the New York Times reviewer quoted on the back cover nailed it with her (his?) description of the author as "the Parisian friend we all wish we had." I was told recently, by someone in a position to know, that publishers demand books like this include recipes. Clotilde doesn't let us down here, either. I was surprised by the apparent complexity of some of these (sea bass in almonds and caper crust? pork and swiss chard terrine?), but you can't argue with their authenticity.

I read through this book very quickly, and admit to skimming many of the restaurant descriptions. I know, though, that barring having the author herself to take us around, this book is one I'd want to have along on our theoretical Parisian vacation.