Context Paris Hosts Thanksgiving Dinner

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. October 14, 2008

PARIS, France, October 25, 2007. Context, the network of scholars who lead critically-acclaimed walking tours in several European cities, will host a special Thanksgiving dinner at historic restaurant Le Pharamond annotated by docent and dining historian Carolin C. Young. The event will take place on Thanksgiving Day (November 22).

"Typically Thanksgiving is a day when we celebrate, through food, American national identity," notes Context founder Paul Bennett. "But this year, rather than comb the Bastille market for a turkey, we're hosting an intensely French experience-a feast at Le Pharamond organized by one of the top historians of French food. The meal itself will be an exploration of the history and traditions of the very best Parisian cuisine."

The host of the event will be Carolin C. Young, a noted dining historian, chair of the Oxford Food Symposium, and author of Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver (Simon and Schuster, 2002), a history of feasts.

Carolin will begin with a short walking tour of some of the most important sites in the history of food and dining in Paris, including the Palais Royal (scene of some of the most famous French meals in history) and Les Halles. The walk itself will be partly based on the imaginary itinerary set forth by Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de la Reyni`ere, the world's first food journalist, in the earliest edition of his Almanach des gourmands (1803).

The group will then retire to Le Pharamond, a land marked restaurant now owned by Sylvain Le Barbier, formerly the renowned sommelier of L'Ami Louis. Participants will take a behind-the-scenes tour of the restaurant, meeting Sylvain and his chef St'ephane, before sitting down to a sumptuous four-course lunch prepared especially for the occasion. The menu, designed in conjunction with Carolin, draws from French traditions and history and, thus, like the turkey in the American Thanksgiving feast, aims to give participants a lens through which to discuss French national identity. Carolin and Sylvain will annotate the entire experience, elucidating the design and composition of each dish and enlivening the conversation with anecdotes about famous meals from Madame Pompadour to Salvador Dal'i.

The menu will be as follows:

Ap'eritif: Champagne Ruinart

Appetizers:

Foie gras, Escargots de Bourgogne, Coquilles Saint-Jacques, Bouch'ees `a la reine

Served with Alphonse Mellot 2005, Sancerre blanc

Main courses:

Roasted 'poulet de Bresse', Sole normande, C^ote de boeuf,

C^ote de veau de la Vall'ee d'Auge, Rognons de veau, Tripes de Caen

(accompanied by seasonal vegetables and sides)

Served with Clos de Lumbrays 2000, Bourgogne, Grand Cru

Followed by salad and a selection of French cheeses

Desserts:

'Equitoriale noire, Poire de la Grande Truanderie,

Tarte fine aux pommes, Cr`eme br^ul'ee

Coffee/tea/infusion.

Mineral water

This event is being hosted as part of Context's "Out of Context" series of special lectures and events. It will be held on November 22, 2007 at 11am. The price is 220 Euros per person, which includes the cost of a four-course meal and wine at Le Pharamond.

Founded by National Geographic writer Paul Bennett and designer Lani Bevacqua, Context is a network of English-speaking scholars and professionals-including art historians, writers, architects, and gastronomes-who organize and lead didactic walking seminars across five cities: Rome, Naples, Florence, Paris, and Venice. In May 2007, Travel + Leisure named Context one of the top European tour companies for its innovative approach to travel and the depth of its programs. To learn more about Context visit its website at: www.contexttravel.com.