Bon Appetit Article Confirms My Dreams Have Come True

Last week, my mom sent me an email that said "Thought you might enjoy this Bon Appetit article".  Over the past year, my subscriptions to Bon Appetit, Food & Wine Magazine, and National Geographic Traveler (which I somehow got annual subscriptions to for about $4) have been flowing in each month to my parents' house and had made a nice collection by Christmas when I went to visit.

Apparently they're still coming.  She attached several scanned photos, the first being this one:

Now, I would like to submit a brief cross reference here, here, and here for a bit of history on how I'm secretly best friends with this chef and/or we are in love and about to get engaged any day now.  The relationship involves him sending out complimentary extra things every time I eat there, and me looking towards the kitchen attempting to communicate "THIS IS RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!!" with various animated facial expressions which probably make me look like a monkey.  The extent of our conversation goes like this: "C'etait?" (How was it?) "Oh la la! Magnifique! Superbe! Trop bon! Incroyable!" and whatever other adjectives come to mind.  Clearly we are in love.  

Then there was the next page:

Even in cartoon form, I knew IMMEDIATELY what products were about to be referenced on this page.  As I read the article, I kept wanting to pinch myself that this late-breaking news of the best of the best in Paris - The places where people HAD to go, the things they HAD to eat...And I'm going! I'm eating!!  Let me just give a few examples by way of pictures...

Page 1

Best friends/about to be engaged with Stéphane Jego, check.

Page 2

Jacques Genin caramels - the best caramels in Paris. Check.

Bordier butter

I thought that maybe the author actually stole one of my photos for the magazine article, check.

Page 3, entrance to the restaurant Au Passage, where I had JUST gone to eat the night before.

The big round light fixture in the corner is our point of reference from exterior to interior.

And then the last page with the big map showing all the latest and greatest spots:

Starting at top right of the map at La Tete dans les Olives

which I was obsessed with.

One spot down to Le Dauphin, where I almost went with my friend Meg for a little apero the other night on our way to our dinner reservation at Au Passage, but we instead opted for a glass of wine at Aux Deux Amis, where the adorable Swedish chef, Svante, works - We just happened to hang out with him all night at a birthday thing a while ago, and then he was one of the first presenters at the big food event, Omnivore, in March, where he made faces at us from the stage because we were in the front row.  Are you kidding me???  Pinch, pinch.   

\

Incidentally, the week before while eating at Aux Deux Amis, we ran into the chef from Septime, who was also a big presenter a month prior at a food event.  It's been impossible to get a table at his place, but hopefully soon.

At the bottom right corner of the map is La Patisserie, the new big name pastry shop that Adam, the pastry authority, talked about the other night over dinner, and where my new employee Phoebe, who is in culinary school, just got an internship.

Swinging back up to the top left, I unfortunately had to cancel our reservation 2 nights ago at Vivant for another great option that came up, and I'm going to La Verre Volé this week with some girls from work.

All I'm saying is that I am downright, straight up, and overall flabbergasted that a Bon Appetit article just gave a quick outline of the past few months of my life, therefore confirming that yes, my dreams have come true.  Paris, Paris I love you, Paris.