Happy June everyone! Last month, the weather was rather iffy here & there, and I was traveling in New York, where the normally bountiful farmers' markets were rather barren. I missed seeing cherries, strawberries and apricots, which have finally arrived in Paris.

Fortunately I found plenty of good bread from bakeries like L'Imprimerie (above), She Wolf, and Bourke Street Bakery, a place I visited in Sydney (and was pretty wowed by it), that recently arrived in the States. I also ate at some great restaurants, which I plan to write up on my blog this month, in case your travels take you there. Warning: It's a pretty massive posts but good to bookmark if your travels take you there.

This month we'll be crisscrossing Paris to shoot photos for my next book (and eating and drinking), plus we're putting the finishing touches on my final Paris tour. The tour filled very quickly, so to those of you who wrote, inquiring about getting a spot, apologies for being unable to accommodate everyone. (We'd need a few double-decker buses...as well as a clone or two of me.) I've had a great time taking people around to my favorite places in Paris over the year, but I've been doing them for nearly two decades, and I'm going to focus my attention on other things on my docket. Like...my book!

Summer in Paris is basically one big wind-down. Our part of the world has seen some turbulence, from a rocky road to Brexit, to gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protesting through French cities, no one quite knows what the next few months - or years - will bring, but summer is the time when doors and windows start getting locked up as people start to think about les vacances (vacations). It's a little early to be talking about it but I start getting messages from people coming to Paris, asking me what'll be open, and I usually give them the same advice: I don't know, but just come, walk around, eat in cafés (don't worry about getting into the "hot" restaurants, which will likely be closed), and enjoy the calm.

I haven't had time to plan anything for the summer. Some friends invited us to visit them in another country but the scrum of getting plane tickets and planning rental cars, etc., makes me just want to stay home and drink rosé. Anyone care to join me?

- David

Paris designates a handful of streets as anti-mégot (anti-cigarette butt) streets (Le Bonbon)

Don't throw out those leek greens... (Taste)

A new edition of Joy of Cooking (last updated in 2006) will be released this fall (Publisher's Weekly)

There's a new crop of restaurants in Paris putting snails (and other French classics) on the menu (CNN)

Yay or nay on a banana split made with…pickles? (Laughing Squid)

I'll join the chorus: In Praise of Nigel Slater (Vice)

(And if you haven't read his book Toast, put it on your summer reading list, pronto.)

Will customs agents confiscate your cheese? (Janet Fletcher)

What influencers do (and shouldn't do) when they come to Paris (Globe and Mail)

Yes, there's a Stranger Things Lego Set. And yes, it's reversible. (Laughing Squid)

Director of Amélie pondering making a "mockumentary" about the making of Amélie (IndieWire)

Sign me up! Company offering to pay $10k to come to France and drink rosé (Thrillist)

Dunkin' (Donuts) and Baskin-Robbins Introduce Ice Cream and Donut-inspired Nail Polish (via Eater)

Missy Robin's great Fettuccini with butter, Parmesan and Black Pepper recipe (Rachael Ray)

This double-decker Coconut-Chocolate "Candy Bar" cake (above) combines two of my favorite flavors from childhood.

Since absinthe became legal, I've found all sorts of uses for "the green fairy," including this Absinthe Ice Cream.

I crave Vietnamese flavors and these easy Coconut Caramel shrimp delivered.

It's as tasty as it is beautiful, this Papaya-Lime Sorbet is fine on its own, but is wonderful with a jumble of summer berries. (Or, some tequila tippled over the top...)

These crispy, crunchy, crackly Multiseed Muffins will get you moving in the morning!

-dl