Christine Chiao

Drinkable pizza by Jean-François Piège at Le Fooding

Few countries have shown as adamant an objection against American food as France. Jokes about each countries' eats are familiar from both sides of the Atlantic: We put ketchup on everything; they have a rich sauce for, well, everything. When McDonald's opened its first location on famed Parisian boulevard the Champs-Élysées in 1988, local outcry became a national debate, grabbing international headlines in the process.

Now it seems French fears of a food takeover may have some basis. The Washington Post followed up this Monday on an NPR report about a culinary reversal through the growing popularity of American fast food.

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Flammarion Books

The Complete Bocuse

As Easter approaches, we repent. Late last year, The Complete Bocuse, a nearly 800-page tribute to Paul Bocuse's modern French cuisine, went straight from our desk to our permanent cookbook shelf without a weekly cookbook feature. Too many end-of-year cookbooks, too much holiday ham, too much wine.

And so this week, we bring you all three. The holy Trinity of consumption, one might argue. The Bocuse compendium is a must-have cookbook for anyone interested in tracing our (French) gastronomic roots. The authentic way to make fish à la Lyonnaise, à la crème, au buerre noisette, meunière, en croûte. You get the idea.

As Easter remains a classic ham sort of holiday, there are plenty of recipe options here beyond honey-glazed. Among them: Ham cooked in hay, which seems rather holiday appropriate, actually.

Which begs the question: what to pair with hay? Get that recipe, as well as a few ham and wine pairing tips, after the jump.

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Courtesy Coco Laurent

Salad Niçoise at Coco Laurent

A new French restaurant debuts downtown today. Coco Laurent, located on South Grand Ave. opens its doors for its soft opening at 11 a.m. Eventually they will be open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as brunch on weekends.

The restaurant is owned by Vincent Terzian, the former owner of the Crocker Club, who also designed 7,000-square foot Coco Laurent. Here he aims for Parisian-style "bistro-chic," and he's hired a chef, Guillaume Jouvet, who he imported from Paris.

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A. Trachta

Robyn Wilson and Jarrid Masse at the Poor Porker stand

On the booth hangs a mirror for customers to double-check their mouths. "I've walked around with powdered sugar on my face so many times!" says Robyn Wilson, one half of the incredibly charming couple that makes up The Poor Porker -- a makeshift, traveling coffee and beignet stand that sets up shop all over L.A., as well as Lakeland, Florida, depending on where Wilson and partner Jarrid Masse feel like being that week.

Wilson, a former caterer for touring bands, and Masse, a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades, ("She's the only one who can put up with my manic-ness," Masse says of Wilson) are living the dream. It's a simple, semi-rootless, freewheeling, DIY life, in which they travel here and there, popping up their handmade wooden booth, frying beignets to order. Really delicious beignets at that, along with iced coffee bearing the unique flavor of chicory smoked in hickory and applewood.

And they're so damn cute you almost wish they'd invite you into a thrupple. So how could they afford, as Cake would say, their rock n' roll lifestyle? Well, they couldn't.

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Sam Kane

Chef T.J. Tramonto teaching a class

Looking to improve your cooking technique, or maybe just to have a fun night out while fine-tuning your eating skills? Then grab your toque and set your GPS for Thousand Oaks, where 20 cooking classes are being offered by the Community Enrichment Department, part of the Conejo Valley Adult School.

"We're offering more cooking classes now than we used to," says Christina Alwood, coordinator of the enrichment program. "They are becoming more popular all the time. Our instructors are so outstanding and they get a reputation. They gain a following."

Taught by area food experts, including chefs, caterers and cookbook authors, the classes cover a wide range of topics, from seasonal cooking and baking, to learning how to preserve and can foods. Alwood says among student favorites are three classes that focus on using Trader Joe's products to create new dishes.

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A. Scattergood

Yassmin Sarmadi and Tony Esnault

When Church & State owner Yassmin Sarmadi and former Patina executive chef Tony Esnault got to chatting at the March of Dimes charity event in Los Angeles last year, and then again at the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, who knew that a new French restaurant would be the result? Yet that is the happy outcome of hanging out at fancy food events (it's good to know they can actually have a tangible purpose). Yesterday Sarmadi and Esnault confirmed that they've partnered in Spring, a French restaurant set to open next summer on the ground floor of the Douglas Building at the corner of Spring and Third Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Chatting at a wine bar next door to Church & State, Sarmadi's downtown French bistro, yesterday evening, the two discussed their plans for the restaurant -- what they both describe as something that will be "between a bistro and fine dining." And what at first seemed a somewhat unlikely partnership began to make a great deal of sense.

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Image courtesy Christine Haberstock and the Little Door

Once upon a time, France spent way too much money on the Seven Years War and the government coffers got tapped out. This meant the ruling powers couldn't pay the country's bills, and the absolute monarchy took a swift nosedive. The resultant shift in the social, political and economic environment threw the country into chaos and caused an even greater divide between the downtrodden and the people who wanted them to eat cake. So to speak. On July 14, 1789, the French people rose up against the tyranny of the ruling class by storming the medieval fortress prison known as the Bastille.

That day -- the flashpoint of the French Revolution -- is celebrated with La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) in France, and is commemorated on July 14 every year. Bastille Day is celebrated with parties, massive displays of fireworks and feasts. If you're a French expat, or just someone looking for a good party to commemorate the gleeful guillotining of a bunch of entitled French nobility, look no further than the bars and restaurants below, listed in alphabetical order. Each is offering Bastille Day celebrations on Saturday, July 14. And some even have cake.

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If you're not doing anything really important for dinner on Sun., March 4 -- and maybe even if you are -- you now have someplace to be. Every year for one night, Lucques co-owners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne host a cassoulet night in place of one of their customary Sunday Suppers. This year will be their ninth, and it's a tradition we hope they'll continue for, well, as long as the restaurant is around, which is to say forever. More »

Screenshot of David Lebovitz' Twitter page

Quick

Two of the three Star Wars-themed burgers.

One of Europe's bigger restaurant chains, the Belgian-based Quick is known for its mildly outlandish, limited-run sandwiches. Highlights include a burger topped with foie gras, a heart-shaped bun with two cheese-logged patties, and a salsa-topped burger. However, the latest entries really blast off into the stratosphere -- to a galaxy far, far away.

Yes, that's correct. Quick's new burgers are Star Wars-themed: The Dark Maul Burger, the Jedi Burger, and the Dark Vador Burger.

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