Interview with Ruth Reichl

The legendary New York-based chef, writer and editor chats about her latest novel, the pleasures of Paris and her next food obsession.

By Robert Liwanag

Ruth Reichl has always been devoted to food. In the 1970s, as co-owner and chef of the Swallow Restaurant in Berkeley, California, Reichl was key in shaping the city’s burgeoning food scene. She served as restaurant critic for both the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times in the 1980s and ’90s and, later, as the editor-in-chief of Gourmet. Nowadays, in addition to writing cookbooks, memoirs and novels, Reichl publishes her sharp-witted culinary observations in her weekly newsletter, La Briffe. “I still walk into every restaurant with great expectations,” she says. “The only difference is I don’t have an expense account anymore.”

In April, Reichl returned to the world of fiction with The Paris Novel, a sumptuous love letter to the city’s brasseries, writers and art history. Set in 1983, it follows Stella St. Vincent, a shy New Yorker who visits Paris for the first time. There, she encounters literary greats James Baldwin and John Ashbery, dines at Robert et Louise and becomes infatuated with the story of French painter Victorine Meurent. “This book is filled with everything I care about most,” says Reichl.

Q&A

Range What inspired your new novel?

Ruth Reichl In Save Me the Plums, my memoir from 2019, I wrote about trying on a black Dior dress at a vintage store in Paris, but not buying it. My old editor, the late Susan Kamil, asked me, “Couldn’t you turn that into a novel, where a character does buy the dress?” I had the same experience as Stella does in the first chapter of The Paris Novel, where I put on the dress, looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself — I was the most fabulous creature. Buying the dress helps Stella open herself up to the sights, sounds and flavors of Paris.

R You have just arrived in Paris. Take us through your day.

RR One of the first things I will do is walk along Rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement. It’s one of the oldest market streets in the city, dating back to Roman times, and it’s such a great introduction. Afterwards, I’ll go for some oysters. The oysters in France are so delicious, and there’s a place called Huîtrerie Régis near Saint-Sulpice that I love. And then I’m going to eat as much cheese as I possibly can.

R What do you love most about modern Paris?

RR Until fairly recently, the French ate French food. Now, Paris has everything. In the 18th arrondissement, for instance, is a neighborhood called Goutte d’Or, and it’s predominantly African. You see foods you never see in America, like baobab juice, because we don’t have the same diaspora. You can taste how different the foods from the eastern, northern, western and southern parts of the continent are. It’s really exciting.

R Which country’s cuisine will be your next obsession?

RR Last year, an Indian magazine asked me to judge a cookbook contest, and I realized how unbelievably ignorant I am about Indian food. The cookbooks were so eye-opening. It’s an enormous country, and the cuisine changes greatly from one area to another. The Indian food that we have in the United States is a tiny fraction of what is eaten in India. It’s something that I would love to learn more about.