This week in food writing..."Trail of Crumbs"

There's zero connection to L.A. in "Trail of Crumbs," but as a Francophile and New Orleans-phile, I was curious to read this memoir by Kim Sunee, the food editor at Cottage Living magazine. Abandoned by her mother in Korea at the age of 3, Sunee was adopted by a young New Orleans couple and grew up watching Justin Wilson with her granddad, who taught her that mirlitons and gumbo were the important words to learn in English. Recipes are interspersed through the memoir, which mostly focuses on her seemingly-idyllic relationship with the sybaritic French owner of L'Occitane and the amazing meals they cooked. Her lyrical descriptions of life in a Provence villa will make you wonder why you never managed to fall in love with a sexy gourmet mogul, and her descriptions of inscrutable Parisian analysts will make you appreciate your approachable American therapist. The only thing missing is a final coda describing how she made the leap from proprietor of an impossibly quaint poetry bookshop on the Ile St. Louis to a shelter mag in Alabama, but it's a quick and enjoyable read that transports to reader to sunny Provence for a short, bittersweet trip.