Product Description

Authentic recipes from Parisian bistros are perfect for simple, celebratory meals with family and friends. Classic dishes like French Onion Soup, Coq au Vin, and Tarte Tatin capture the tastes of easy, old-fashioned French cooking. A description of each bistros style and neighborhood guides to nearby sights and amusements lead readers on a gourmet tour of Paris.

With sections on how to order like a true Parisian, a bistro menu glossary, and suggestions for dining bistro-style at home, this is the perfect volume for confirmed francophiles, first-time visitors to France, and everyone interested in enjoying French cuisine, family style. The accompanying compact disc of tunes by Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, and George Gershwin sets a stylish and romantic Parisian mood to complete the bistro experience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #201697 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

From Booklist
The Parisian bistro scene conjures as many images of Gauloises and Piaf as it does of veal stews and floating islands. This CD-book multimedia presentation aims to associate jazz, that quintessentially American musical form, with French cookery. O'Connor has compiled recipes from some of Paris' most celebrated bistros. Two American bistros, one on each coast, and a Montreal establishment also rate notice. For tourists needing to know more about the surroundings of the Parisian establishments, a "neighborhood walk" introduces parks and sites around each eatery. Each bistro has divulged an appetizer, entree, and dessert recipe. Terrines, steak frites, roast chicken, and tarte tatin, form the core of this cuisine. Most dishes are such classics that there are few surprises among the recipes, but a moderate level of cooking skill is useful to execute them successfully. Mark Knoblauch

Review
Sharon O'Connor's book Bistro, part of the Menus and Music series, provides readers with recipes from chefs at 17 top Paris bistros, plus useful insider neighborhood notes. There's also a CD with mood-setting songs by Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, and others top lay while preparing a meal fromor trip tothe City of Light. -- Bon Appetit Magazine, 11/99

About the Author
Sharon OConnor was the first person ever to pair a cookbook with music. What seems like a simple ideafood and music are a natural combinationis actually the culmination of years of life experience. As OConnor puts it, Menus and Music has packaged up my life.

After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with degrees in music and sociology, O'Connor trained at the renowned Amsterdam Conservatory of Music. She began her career as a performer with the San Francisco Ballet and Opera and has worked with famed performers such as Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, Tony Bennett and Linda Ronstadt. She has also recorded with the American Conservatory Theater, Aretha Franklin, John Williams, and for numerous Hollywood film scores. She continued her musical career as the founder and cellist of the San Francisco String Quartet.

A lifelong amateur chef, OConnor began looking for a way to combine her loves for music, food, travel, and writing. Twelve years ago, while driving across the San Francisco Bay Bridge after a performance with her string quartet, she came up with the idea for Menus and Music.

Now, fourteen volumes later, O'Connor OConnor travels the world to research each cookbook and is an expert in adapting recipes from professional chefs for the home cook. Equal time is devoted to meeting with other musicians, mixing, arranging, editing, and performing the musical selections on the compact discs.

Sharon OConnor makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area with her two daughters and husband. Her family enthusiastically helps in the research, travel, and tasting for her series.

Customer Reviews

Sucess in the kitchen!
I have had great sucess with many of the recipes here. The recipes are easy to follow, the photos of the finished dish are inspiring,and the result is very tasty! There is just a step or two in these recipes that really elevate these dishes. The best Coq a vin and cauliflower gratin I have ever tasted! I look forward to trying the desserts next.The accompanying CD was a fun surprise...It is actually very pleasant to listen to when cooking: upbeat but not too loud,all rather "hummable" and fun.This cookbook and CD is perfect for a relaxing Sunday afternoon preparing a special Sunday dinner.Highly recommended.

Great gift for any francophile
Now a confirmed francophile after honeymooning in Paris, my daughter is delighted with this collection of authentic bistro recipes and music. With the CD and recipes, easy enough even for her novice cooking skills, she can re-create the Parisian mood at home while entertaining family and friends. The only thing lacking are more photographs of the prepared recipes as food is to be savored by our mouth, nose and eyes.