Review

I collect vintage cookbooks and travel guides with a focus on American interpretations and explorations of French food. For all this title implies, it's actually one of the less pretentious areas you can collect in, if you're interested in it. French food, for all the finery, is actually a really simplistic cuisine (well, it should be anyway). This is a review for an annual restaurant guide for restaurants in Paris, and while it's not a vintage piece yet (clearly...it's online) it does seem to ring in line with my interests. I will definitely be checking it out. Actually, I already (and immediately) searched for more information. The piece itself doesn't really read like a typical review because it also focuses on the other activities of the group that publishes the manual. It is, however, utterly persuasive and fascinating. Here is another piece about it. The main downfall of both pieces are a lack of links!! I wanted more immediate information on how to access the guides. Not that I'm planning a trip to france soon, but Valence will definitely be on my visit list...

US News and World Report

While I can't say I always enjoy her column THIS ONE in particular is one that stands out in my mind as a favorite. Jodie Allen works for Pew Research Center, accounting for her heavy use of statistics in her columns. I happen to love surveys and data so my interest in this column is obvious. I also thought it was interesting that she chose to include the data about which political party was more interested in each of the phrases. It doesn't seem particularly relevant, but its an interesting fact to note.