Wendy Lyn is the founder of Culinary Paris (www.wendy-lyn.com), the ultimate insider’s guide and bespoke tour service for food lovers in Paris. After ten years serving as a public relations advisor to some of the world’s best chefs and restaurants, she realized time-poor travelers lacked a trusted insider to guide them through the endless dining options in Paris. She explains, “I was in a different city every day with only a few hours to get the essence of each place and kept wishing I knew a foodie local to get me the real deal. After 250+ days a year on the road I decided that is who I wanted to be for visitors to Paris.”

Since then she has designed and led countless food, wine and travel programs and next month will launch, The Paris Kitchen, with features on the food and wine culture in Paris. Here, she talks to Indagare about her love of good food, passion for Paris, and reveals the not-to-be-missed restaurants in the City of Lights.

What started your love of food and dining?

Food has always played a big part of the enjoyment in my life. I grew up in the Deep South along the Gulf of Mexico and spent my days fishing and gathering scallops with my grandfather from the bay. I lived for our big family Saturday breakfasts around the big farm table with fresh eggs, cheese grits, buttermilk biscuits and homemade jam. My last year in college was spent abroad in London so fish and chips and eating “pub grub” became the norm. It was a class weekend trip to Paris that brought back the love of fresh food and the joy of people gathered around a table enjoying a meal. It was love at first sight and I never looked back.

Who influenced you during this period?

My three mentors were Chef Guy Savoy, baker Lionel Poilâne, and wine shop owner Juan Sanchez. Each in their own way really opened my eyes to culinary France and brought me back to my roots.

Chef had me taste a dish and, as I ate, he verbally deconstructed it for me in detail by telling me what each layer was, where it came from, and reinforced that it was special because of the person who took the care to produce it. After meeting some of those producers, I tasted that same dish again and it tasted completely different.

Lionel often talked to me for hours about the qualities of various wheat kernels. His family has been making bread by hand since 1932 in a former 17th c. monastery basement in the same manner that the monks did. With that kind of commitment to quality, it’s no wonder it changed the way I now hope to experience food on so many levels.

Juan was the first “wine” person I ever met who wasn’t interested in pretention or selling huge mass marketed wines. Every bottle he sells is a made by a small producer and 100% estate bottled. He invites producers to come for in-store tastings on Saturdays. In this way, he’s introduced me (and many others) to some incredibly passionate winemakers, some of which have become good friends. True story, in ten years, I’ve not purchased a single bottle of wine from a Paris wine store other than from his shop.

What is ‘good food’ to you?

Whether it is bistros, Michelin-starred, picnics or a home dinner party, any food someone takes pride in preparing and serving, and can be shared around a communal table with others is good food.

I am drawn mostly to comfort foods because of my Southern roots, but in France my favorite comfort foods are moules frites, cassoulet, coq au vin with pureed potatoes and smoked salt Bordier butter slathered on toast. I don’t really have a sweet tooth but I live for the salted butter caramel macarons from Ladurée and the available-only-at-Easter Patrick Roger chocolate oysters filled with ground almond and hazelnut mixture.

Do you have a stand-out memorable meal?

It is a tie between Guys Savoy’s artichoke truffle soup with buttered cèpe brioche, and the duck confit Daniel Boulud served on my birthday in NYC when I couldn’t be in Paris. The entire meal was fabulous, but that dish blew me away and I never fail to remind him.

What sort of traveler uses Culinary Paris?

Savvy travelers who are short on time. These days, our time is so fragmented, and we’re bombarded with too much information. Expectations are high when we finally get the chance to get away. For Paris especially, where fabulous French food and wine are always on top of the list, who wants to come all this way and pay good money for a less than average meal? Some travelers are independent and just want a tailor-made list to discover Paris on their own; while others ask me to organize everything from a private apartment with chef, wine tastings with an expert, dinner reservations and foodie walkabouts in my favorite food neighborhoods.

What is your most frequent request?

The most frequent request these days is that they want to rent a private apartment over a luxury hotel and prefer local’s bistros with market fresh food to Michelin-starred restaurants. Plus great wine, and nothing too expensive

What is the most common misconception about eating out in Paris?

That is has to be expensive, it doesn’t. Knowing your budget and the different areas are key to having a great dining experience in Paris.

What will visitors learn about Paris through its restaurants?

It honestly depends what part of town the diner is eating. Each area (arrondissement) is so completely different it doesn’t necessarily define Paris as a whole. The central part of Paris (especially in the St Germain des Pres where I live) used to be THE place to eat, but nowadays, it is purely for window shopping. If you are dining centrally don’t miss Yam’tcha (4 Rue Sauval; 33-1-40-26-08-07) and Itinéraires (Rue de Pontoise; 33-1-46-33-60-11)

Where are the new hotspots in the city?

The new hot places to eat, like Jadis (208 Rue de la Croix-Nivert; 33-1-45-57-73-20), along with La Bigarrade (106 Rue Nollet; 33-1-42-26-01-02) and La Gazzetta (29 Rue de Cotte; 33-1-43-47-47-05) are out in residential neighborhoods and for visiting tourists it feels odd not to have plenty of choices in the heart of the city. The 15th is on fire right now with amazing value bistros popping up with great food and wine for less than 30e. A classic is Beurre Noisette (68 Rue Vasco-de-Gama, 33-1-48-56-82-49) and I love Cave de L’Os à Moëlle (181 Rue de Lourmel; 33-1-45-57-28-28). The much written about 19th is a glorified mini-Asia, but most visitors aren’t here for non-French food.

Where would you send a first-time visitor to Paris?

I would send them to the outdoor markets so that they could see what is fresh and in season at that moment (the President Wilson or Richard Lenoir markets) and then to any of the new bistros that pride themselves on seasonal menus. My newest favorite, Frenchie (5 Rue de Nil; 33-1-40-39-96-19), on the right bank is so darned good I make another reservation before I leave.

What is your perfect day in the city?

A perfect day in the city is always out of doors with a combination of moving and sitting still. I start each day with an early morning run to the Eiffel Tower and back along the river. Then I love grabbing the Herald-Trib, sitting at a café with a crème (no-one really says café au lait any longer) and watching the neighborhood “wake up” when the bakery is delivering baguettes to the bistro and everyone is shaking hands.

If I am not going out to dinner, I usually shop at the outdoor market to make a big lunch for friends. The vendors are something else with their stories and recipes, as are the other shoppers. If I am going out to dinner, I enjoy walking in a neighborhood I haven’t been to in a while, Montmartre for instance, and shopping at the bakeries and food shops to pull together a little lunch to picnic on the Pont des Arts or along the Canal St Martin.

The perfect day always ends with good friends gathered around a table with good food and wine.

After the organic, farm-to-table and raw food movements are you noticing any new dining trends in Paris?

You can never say never in Paris; sushi to go on mopeds and Starbucks are the rage right now, who knew? The culinary “movement” however, has really been affected by the economy and top chefs have been forced to rethink their strategy. Some are opening “to-go” gourmet sandwich shops while unknown but up-and-coming chefs are being hailed as genius, not for choreographing multi-course, over-the-top meals but for serving fantastic, gorgeously presented food, a daily changing menu and market-fresh cuisine for less than 30e. When you can eat such delicious food that is pretty on the plate and gentle on the wallet, you wonder “how do they do it?”

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