Food
The guy behind the counter knows everything
by David Benjamin “I’ll have what she’s having.” —Older lady customer at Katz’s deli, When Harry Met Sally PARIS—As I was wedging my way between two thirsty Frenchmen and awaiting eye contact with the publican behind the bar at Le Baron Rouge, a wine and oyster oasis near the ancient Marché d’Aligre, I thought…
Read MoreThe essential egg
by David Benjamin “And it is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God.” — Brother Lawrence MADISON, Wis. — We left Paris last year just as the pandemic was starting and we haven’t been able to return. But when we go…
Read MoreThe sandwich with a thousand faces
The sandwich with a thousand faces By David Benjamin “Maybe we shouldn’t be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” — Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez MADISON, Wis. — There are Congresspersons warning us lately that the embryonic and nebulous Green New Deal portends the abolition of the hamburger. This threat stands alongside such fanciful right-wing…
Read MoreMythic pizza
Mythic pizza by David Benjamin “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” — Yogi Berra MADISON, Wis.— So, there I was — about a month ago — standing on the sidewalk on a clammy night in Taipei, hip-deep amongst the hip, the young and the trendy, watching…
Read MoreThe universal kitchen table
The universal kitchen table by David Benjamin “Out of the kitchen, to stew is to fret, to worry, to agitate. In the kitchen, however, to stew is to have great expectations” — Molly O’Neill PARIS — In another life, with another wife, my in-laws were Ralph and Edie, who lived above a store in Jamaica…
Read MoreBistro nights
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#724) Bistro nights by David Benjamin PARIS — A while ago, I sent a New York editor to one of my favorite Paris bistros, a rustic meat-and-blettes eatery called Chez René. I warned her that the head waiter, Michel, would be scary. Sure enough, Michel intimidated Katie and…
Read MoreA cozy evening in the urban shell
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#688) A cozy evening in the urban shell by David Benjamin “Paris is devine. I mean Dorothy and I got to Paris yesterday, and it really is devine. Because the French are devine.” — Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes PARIS — This city is a little like operating…
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