The renowned food critic takes you on a culinary journey through France that is not to be missed.

As he places his napkin over his head Alexander Lobrano stares down at the ortolan placed at the middle of this plate. The ortolan, also known as a bunting, is a small little bird that is plucked but otherwise eaten whole. A famous French delicacy, it is rarely eaten since it is forbidden to be sold within the country. As he sits there with his face hidden under the napkin, used so as to absorb the maximum odor and flavor of this delicacy, he bravely takes a bite. He then realizes that it tastes exactly how it looks, disgusting.

A renowned food critic and the author of the published book, Hungry for Paris, Lobrano believes that everything should be at least tried once. This courageous mentality might just be the reason why this food critic's career is now soaring sky high. His passion for food was realized in 1972 when he and his family took an unforgettable trip through Europe for eight weeks. In Rome on the first night, I was blown away by everything; the smells and the tastes, he recounts. This love of food and travel was revived more than ten years later in 1986 when he moved to Paris and wrote for Fairchild. During this time Lobrano quickly became very fond of writing about restaurants, I realized, he says that my person that I would use during my story time was food.

He started freelancing and wrote mostly about food and travel. This opened up many opportunities for him, including writing for TimeOut, ZAGAT and the very prestigious Gourmet magazine. After 20 years of writing about food Lobrano decided he would take the next step, writing a book. In 2005, after two years of writing, Hungry for Paris: The Ultimate Guide to the City's 102 Best Restaurants was released. The book is a mixture of a memoir and a portrait of Paris seen through the eyes of 102 of Paris' restaurants which are all reviewed. Lobrano further adds that, restaurants are like small theatres, every meal is like a theatrical exhibition and I wanted to transmit some of that feeling through my book.

The responses have been positive and Lobrano is already thinking about future endeavors, including writing another book. And to all his critics, who say his American nationality doesn't qualify him to write about French food, he promptly says, my taste buds don't have a passport.

Yvonne Ivanescu

Yvonne Ivanescu
		About the author:
		A self-proclaimed travel fanatic, Yvonne has had the opportunity to travel to many amazing and exotic countries over the years. Her favorite spot overall was her unforgettable trip to Egypt. Her journey to Paris was particularly special, as it was the Journalism School at Sciences Po that reignited her passion for writing and journalism. Since returning from France, Yvonne has interned at Vervegirl Magazine and MTV Canada while freelancing for a number of other publications. She has an Honors B.Soc.Sc in International Studies with a minor in Spanish and French and is currently pursuing her Masters in International Development and Globalization with a Specialization in Women's Studies.
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