What brings a girl from Michigan to Paris?

“I came for the food, without a doubt. But I never realised it would become my career. At first, I was more into image making – photography and styling. I worked in the food business as a means to an end to pay my bills, but after a while, I realised that it was really where I wanted to be, I just didn’t know in what capacity or form.”

Was it a childhood dream to become a chef in Paris?

“I never would have imagined that I would end up living in Paris let alone hanging out in the kitchens and writing about some of the most crazily-acclaimed chefs in the world. I still pinch myself! And because neither cooking or living in Paris was what I set out to do, it kept it from becoming intimidating or daunting.”

Is Paris still a foodie’s dream?

“On my days off I tend to eat out a lot. Some 20 years ago when I arrived here it was hard to find French cooking that wasn’t traditional, now it’s about exploring different techniques and flavours. In those days you had stagiaires (interns) from all over the world in the top kitchens, but the menus were still resolutely French. Now many of those stagiaires have gone on to take on bigger roles, opened their own places and that is reflected in the new variety and outside influence we see on menus all the way from hotel palaces to bistrots.”

How did you transition from food stylist to chef?

“One day my editor at Editions La Martiniere called me and told me that she had a new cookbook that she wanted me to work on. When she told me the subject – Une Américaine à Paris, I made some stupid jokes and reminded her that I was Américaine. She said she knew very well and that was why she wanted me to actually write the book itself. After that book came out I started working as a chef consultant. Soon after I began writing recipes for French ELLE; that brought a lot of visibility and more consult gigs.”

How did you get into those Chef’s Fridges?

“I like being an outsider in Paris, it makes getting inside a circle or writing about a circle all that more interesting – like Inside Chefs’ Fridges. Sometimes it’s the outsider status that actually opens doors.”

“Parisians are so hard on each other, being from somewhere else and playing by different rules is a surprisingly good way to open doors in this city.”

How do you juggle your life as a chef / author and motherhood?

“I definitely juggle a lot – but in doing so, oddly enough, multiplies the possibilities. For example a standard full-time chef position wouldn’t give me flexibility to pick my kids up from school, it would probably even be a struggle to sit down for dinner together most nights – although I do think at some point it will be inevitable as I really, really do want to open my own place, just once my daughters are a little older. But because I wear a lot of different hats, this gives me flexibility with my hours and even lets me spend most Wednesdays with my daughters.”

Any key encounters along the way?

“I met Alain Passard really early on when I was about 23. He invited me to eat at L’Arpége. I never would have been able to afford it if not. I was stunned by the procession of vegetables, the daily shipments that arrived from his farm via TGV and of course the astounding price of the prix fixe menu. Back then it was a struggle to find anything remotely vegetarian aside from a frisée salad without the bacon. Now so many city chefs have their own gardens, but he was really ahead of the game. And still, he decided to stay small, remain focused, he has never opened restaurants all over the world, he has always played his own tune and done his own thing.”

How is an American received in Parisian kitchens?

“I know that I’m seen as a curiosity sometimes but probably more so because I didn’t climb up the kitchen ladder, I didn’t go to cooking school or start as an apprentice. But I worked on so many cookbooks alongside incredible chefs that I got a sort of crash course in cooking.”

Do you feel like an expat or a local? Are the Parisians as bristly as they are made out to be.

“I feel like a ‘center of Paris local’ but I definitely feel more ‘expat’ in smaller towns. I do think Parisians are a little bristly. Honestly, I adored it when I first moved here – now it frustrates me more and more, but I just try to laugh it off. They take themselves too seriously! A little self-deprecating humor could really go a long way.”