God only knows what possessed me tonight to get the ball rolling on a brand new blog.... It is ungodly late, I should be in bed and far away in lala-land... Instead of that, here I am in front of my computer, trying hard to write something that actually makes sense....
Maybe the best thing to do at this point is to start with introductions....
My name is Emmanuel... My beloved mother calls me Manu, my friends call me Eman....
I am a 40 something year old French guy living in Utah, the land of Zion. I came here about a century ago it seems.... Back then, culture, good food and good coffee were scarce.Things are better nowadays (Salt Lake recently experienced a renaissance era for day spas, salons and coffee shops of all kinds), but barely so. I did manage to stay here however because it is a beautiful state after all and life is quite affordable here. It is very close to civilization (L.A. , San Francisco, Seattle are only a short plane ride away), The snow is great indeed, and the landscapes
of Utah are unique and breathtaking... Sadly however, one does not live on landscapes, snow and beauty alone.....I live in Sugarhouse, which is a very nice and quaint area. I am a trained chef and have worked in restaurants longer than I care to remember. Shortly after moving to Utah, I met a young, flamboyant, downright loud and in-your-face restaurant owner named Eric Debonis... We became fast friends and I started to work for him right away. I did not know it then, but Eric became my best and most precious friend.
Here we are almost 16 years later, a little wiser, most definitely plumper (especially me) but better than ever and still kicking like it is going out of fashion. Eric owns The Paris Bistro, which in my book is the best restaurant anywhere in the state... I will come back to that later, for I will need a dedicated post for that purpose alone.
The reason I decided to start this blog is very simple.... I work at the restaurant an awful lot and travel to France on my "days off" (I also work as a flight attendant) ... I cannot think of a better way to keep in touch with my friends and family. I will try to post as often as I can, sharing travel stories, thoughts about out of town restaurants and destinations, but also bits and pieces about my everyday life, abroad, at home and at The Paris Bistro.
Anyway... it is getting even later at night and I needed to go to bed hours ago....
More to follow soon.....
