Barbra Austin

La Dolce Vita, indeed.

I’ve said before that I like a restaurant that recognizes its limitations, but before having lunch at Song Heng, you’ll need to recognize your own.

This is a recipe I recently did for Girls’ Guide to Paris. It’s a pretty, pale green spring soup, easy to make for a casual meal but elegant enough to serve to guests.

Continue reading at Girls’ Guide to Paris….

I went to the Marché St. Quentin today, and this is what greeted me at the door:

(If you are particularly fond of our four-legged or fine-feathered friends, you may not want to see these photos.)

I got into a little bit of trouble back in high school.

Like many teenagers, I viewed parental absence as an opportunity to have parties. Not the kind of out-of-control, house-trashing, toilet paper-strewn, beer-soaked ragers from the movies, but small get togethers (still beer-soaked) that I hoped wouldn’t compel the cranky next door neighbors to tattle.

It was a sort of twisted curiosity that drew me to Ralph’s, the restaurant in the new Ralph Lauren shop on the boulevard St. Germain. Fried chicken? A supposedly great burger? A staff trained by Danny Meyer?


I just wanted to see if they could pull this thing off.

I got an email recently from my friend Bonnie, wondering what would happen if she substituted butter for the Crisco called for in her mom’s “crazy delicious” rhubarb coffee cake recipe.

I replied to her query by saying, “The cake will be more delicious, that’s what will happen.” And I asked for the recipe.

Parfait is perfect for those who like creamy frozen desserts but don’t have an ice cream machine.

In other words, me.