Join journalist Chris Newens for an eye-opening exploration of the Parisian cuisine. In conversation with Ferdia Lennon.

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Paris has a justifiable claim to be the centre of European gastronomy – but beyond its trademark terrasses and zinc-topped tables, what can its cuisine tell us about the city? Chris Newens, an award-winning food writer and long-time resident of the historic slaughterhouse quartier Villette, takes us on a delightful gastronomic journey around the Paris’ twenty spiralling arrondissements, seeking out – and attempting to recreate – a dish that represents each area of the city as it is today.

Newens’ journey reveals a city defined by cultural diversity as much as it is by any notion of French national tradition. From Congolese catfish in the 18th, to the secrets of the perfect croissant, Newens shows us contemporary Paris and its history through its food - from charcuterie boards served at the libertine clubs of Pigalle in the 9th, attempts to discover the origin (and secret recipe) of the doner kebab in the 19th, and the Vietnamese restaurants of the 13th.

Throughout Moveable Feasts, Newens lifts the lid on the city's ever-changing, defining, and irresistible food culture, learning the often-unlikely social history behind the food of modern Paris, while meeting the fascinating cast of characters who make it.

Chris Newens is a writer originally from southwest London, where his family ran the same bakery and tea rooms for six generations. After gaining a degree in Anthropology from the London School of Economics, he moved to Paris, where he has lived for more than a decade. He won the 2024 Jane Grigson Trust Award for new food writers for Moveable Feasts.