My Paris is better than yours

When i left paris to live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area at the height of the Internet euphoria, there were some things that I expected-sunshine, freeways, a cool job in a start-up company-and some that I didn't. Among the latter was that I'd develop a passionate interest in food and cooking, discovering at age 21 how much fun could be had in the kitchen and how much pleasure at the table.

It was also from this new perspective, one continent and one ocean away, that I really saw the beauty, charm, and wealth of my birth city, which had all but eluded me when they were my daily bread.

I came home after two years in California, and my love for Paris and gastronomy only burned brighter as I settled in again with intense happiness, hungrily catching up with the City of ...