Joe Ray
Food & Travel / Words & Photos
Published Work
ARCHIVE OF THE YEAR 2005
The Indianapolis Star
Frenchwomen Immune to Obesity? Fat Chance!
PARIS—Just when two years of Franco-American strife seemed to be calming down, what better way to re-open old wounds than with the message of a best-selling book called “French Women Don’t Get Fat”?
The book is a sort of 250-page …
April 4, 2005 The Star-Ledger
A Sojourn in France inspires Jersey teens
Weequahic High teens eat, speak, live like locals.
BY JOE RAY
For the Star-Ledger
March 14, 2005 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ooh la lard! The French do get fat!
It’s one of their irritating hallmarks. Along with a reputation for rude waiters and a penchant to be politically exasperating, the French are so annoyingly skinny.
March 13, 2005 - The Star-Ledger
Michelin Guide’s reputation takes a bite
PARIS—Every year around this time, all self-respecting Frenchmen gobble up the new Michelin Guide (a k a the Guide Rouge or Red Guide) - the restaurant bible that lists the top 9,000 restaurants and hotels in the country.
March 7, 2005 - Michelin Red Guide
Michelin Red Guide: Cooked
Priests would line up to attain this level of holiness. Every year at this time, Michelin puts out its Red Guide, the Frenchman’s food bible (in heft, volume and reverence), and every year, foodies snatch the guides up like hotcakes. Readers compare annual ratings of their favorite restaurants, or look to see if a chef has been elevated into the hallowed rare air of the three-star ranking. Then they check to see if anyone has lost their grip.
February 3, 2005 - Agence France Presse
Film producers tout for funds at busy Rotterdam CineMart
ROTTERDAM, Feb 3 (AFP) - Imagine being a film producer with a great idea, an out-of-this world script, but very little money to bring your project to life.
Some people might try their luck schlepping through the established film festivals like Cannes, Berlin or think even bigger and go direct to the wheeler-dealer money-makers in Hollywood.
But chances are you’d be lost in the shuffle.
February 2, 2005 - The Montreal Gazette
In Lyon, Team Canada takes on creme de la creme
Montreal cheesemongers place fourth, beating out the home team in French cheese competition.
February 2, 2005 - The Santa Fe New Mexican
Vive le blog!
Clotilde Dusoulier has made a name for herself with her Chocolate & Zucchini Web site, which celebrates all food that is French.
January 30 , 2005 - Agence France Presse
Asian chefs cook up a storm in French culinary competition
Asian chefs turned up the heat on their European counterparts this week at one of the world’s most prestigious culinary events, La Bocuse d’Or.
China, competing this year for the first time like Lebanon, joined Japan and Singapore among the 24 teams battling for the award named after celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse.
January 26, 2005 - Agence France Presse
Cheesemongers get taste of cutting edge competition
Think of it as the Olympic Games of cheese—a competition between 12 cheesemonger teams from around the world competing for the first International Caseus Award.
“People are starting to think that cheese is something that just comes in plastic,” said well-known French cheese maker Herve Mons, asked why he organized the contest. “It’s more than that and there’s a person behind it.”
January 26, 2005 - The Chicago Tribune
Cheesemongers show winning wheys
Cheesemongers show winning wheys at cheese competition in France; but promoting the product is more important.
January 26, 2005 - The Houston Chronicle
No Bocuse d’Or this year for Houston Chef
It was a gastronomic madhouse.
In an event that seemed to combine the rowdiest elements of the Olympic Games, TV’s Iron Chef and a European soccer match, 24 teams of chefs from around the world came to duke it out for one of cuisine’s top prizes: La Bocuse d’Or.
January 12, 2005 - The Boston Globe
An American in Paris, teaching wine
PARIS—Dressed for a chilly day in his native New England, David Witter answers the door of his apartment in the Marais district here. The youthful 62-year-old expatriate American is settled into his adopted city and, some might say, has a dream job. He teaches Parisians about wine—in English.
You would think that would raise some eyebrows. But it doesn’t seem to. “It’s not really an issue,” says Witter, waving his hand in the air. “Plus, I’m not really very threatening. Once people want to know more about wine, it doesn’t make a difference who’s teaching it.”
January 9, 2005 - Agence France Presse
Wild game makes gastronomic gains on French menus
ARREAU, France (AFP) - For a country that has always sought to be different from the rest when it comes to cuisine, it’s a wonder that this didn’t happen sooner, but across France wild game is making a big comeback.
January 3, 2005 - Miami Herald - Business Monday
The legal campaign for Champagne name
A spirited battle ensues between vintners and retailers using the name “Champagne”.