Alec Lobrano

Every food lover's ultimate dream is to tour the countryside of France, stopping off at luxurious inns with world-class restaurants and sampling fresh produce from local markets. Imagine having as your guide a bubbly bon vivant, someone who lives for the pleasures of the table and knows just where to ferret out all the delicacies in each town. This book delivers just that. Each chapter takes one of 13 regions, from Normandy to Provence, and first gives background on the roots of its particular style of cuisine. Then come descriptions of a handful of the region's most excellent, off-the-beaten-path restaurants, and recipes inspired by them. It's all written in Alexander Lobrano's inimitable charming style, the familiar voice of a seasoned traveler who's rediscovering many cherished memories along the way. Uniting all of the places in the book is an embrace of the farm-to-table ethos that has swept France's new generation of chefs. This is best embodied in the concept of the auberge -a country inn with a restaurant where all the food is supplied from surrounding area farms. But there are plenty of other stops to entice you to continue: vineyards, bakers, patisseries, specialty shops, and other places of culinary interest. The 75 recipes sprinkled throughout exemplify contemporary riffs on quintessential regional specialties. For instance, from Normandy, there are Shrimp Broth with Langoustine Croutons and Apple Tart with Calvados Gelee; from Provence, Beef en Daube and John Dory Roasted Nicoise Style; from Burgundy, Radishes Marinated in Walnut Oil and Black Cherry Clafoutis. Hungry for France will inspire you to transform your cooking at home as well as to plan the trip of a lifetime.