Lyon is the French capital of gastronomy, so it seems only appropriate that the book I chose to get myself into the local mindset be one about food. What might not have been appropriate? Choosing a book written by an Englishman who decided to open a restaurant here.
Lyonnais foodies prize themselves on their mastery of charcuterie, on their history, on their love of all things offal. To open an English restaurant here could seem like folly, and with good humor, Tom Higgins acknowledges the ridiculousness of the venture in one of the most enjoyable experiments in “Yes, and…” I’ve ever read.
If you enjoyed A Year in Provence, you’ll like Higgins’ memoir, from his descriptions of French bureaucracy (like the bin association fearful of bin thieves) to his altercations with drunken or otherwise inappropriate customers to his adorkably and self-effacingly British surprise at his own good fortune. It only added to my enjoyment of the book that I’m staying mere blocks from where the restaurant – now sadly closed after over a decade of success – once stood.
This book is the kind that propels you to far-off lands without too much effort on the part of the reader. In other words, it’s the ideal summer read.