A couple of pet peeves of mine are people who make fun of L.A.'s "Valley" because they hear other people do it, even though they know nothing about it. The same goes for the French. Some people say that they hate the French because they hear other people say that they hate the French, although neither knows anything about the subject. They're parroting, and it's funny when you call them out on it. They stumble, and say things like, "Oh, um, well, they think their country is the best and they don't like us." Apparently, only Americans can do that.
It's time people replace ignorance with experience. They should go to France, home of lingerie, cafes, ballet, and other wonderful things that end with "ay." Luckily, Paris scooted a little closer to us with Le Grand Fooding CRUSH Paris-L.A. 2013. At the MOCA downtown, famed L.A. Chefs prepared small plates beside French chefs, slinging out their own specialties. La Brea Bakery founder Nancy Silverton (of Mozza, Campanile, etc.) personally drizzled balsamic glaze over our Grilled Beef Tagliata. We licked the plates handed to us by Inaki Aizpitarte, which were dripping in brown butter and fresh herbs. We wandered under the stars carrying little plates of heaven. It was impeccable. Did I mention the tower of Veuve Clicquot?
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| The MOCA exhibit was open as well |
Perhaps the merging of these two great cities can be an ice-breaker for the knuckle-draggers still grunting that they hate the French. The ones who still laugh at L.A.'s "Valley," as if they aren't holed up in a tenement on an ugly stretch of Pico. At this L.A. event, the Parisians came out in droves, wearing scarves and shaggier hair, marveling at our beautiful weather. They were lovely and so was the food. This gives me hope that we can covert some local dumb-dumbs yet!
