The following interview appeared in the October 5th issue of Paris Notes - parisnotes.com

Everything’s Great

A chat with Sandra Gustafson about “Great Eats” and “Great Sleeps”

She is arguably the greatest Paris travel-guide writer in history, I thought, sipping an expensive coffee in the Café de Flore, waiting for Sandra Gustafson to arrive. Smiling, the sixty-something writer enters like a leaf riding the wind, a wisp of a woman, elegant, lithe, self-assured. She is the author of “Great Eats Paris” and “Great Sleeps Paris” (formerly known as “Cheap Eats” and “Cheap Sleeps”), and she has Great Eats/Sleeps books for Italy and London. But she cannot be who she is. Impossible. This delicate, almost fragile, woman could not have written a series of books that would require her to eat so many meals, walk so many streets, climb so many stairs, ask so many questions, write so many notes, brave so many buses and subways, sleep in so many lumpy beds and be away from the comforts of home so many nights. First impressions can be deceiving.

Sandra is demure and gentle, which comes through in the way she disarmingly greets you, the lightness of her handshake and the soft tone of her voice. Behind her glowing exterior, however, is a passionate, dedicated—and tough—champion of value travel. Waiters and hotel clerks in literally hundreds of restaurants and hotels would shake if they knew that this veteran patron had the power she does to send them business. But most never know that a mention in one of Sandra’s books will result in people showing up in their establishments for years to come.

In this age of Internet blather, hotel and restaurant reviews are now being generated by inexperienced occasional visitors who contribute to faceless and unspecialized websites as a hobby. Sandra stands apart—way apart. She’s the real deal. She loves what she does and couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out.

Having sold over 400,000 books in her time (and still selling, briskly), this San Diego resident fondly reminisces about the beginning of the Cheap Eats/Cheap Sleeps series. “The books began more than twenty-five years ago when I was living and working in Paris at what was then the American College. I had no money and had to work two other jobs to make ends barely meet. I lived in a tiny apartment on Ile St-Louis with a kitchen in a mini-closet. I had no time to cook. So, I ate out a lot. Of course, the meals had to be cheap. Soon, people began asking me where they should eat, and one thing led to another. I printed a one-page list of “Cheap Eats Paris.” I subsequently married and moved to Washington, DC. A friend, who was a literary agent, suggested I expand this list into a book. I just laughed. I lived in a thirteen-room house with two stepchildren, two dogs and a husband, had a full-time teaching position and no help. Finally, I put together a small booklet that the literary agent sold by direct mail at $3 per copy. It really caught on when a syndicated travel writer, Judith Morgan, got a hold of it and because one of her favorite restaurants, Lescure, was written up, decided to devote a column to it. Overnight we had orders in the hundreds. My husband and I left for his next diplomatic assignments in Prague for two years, followed by three years in Singapore. During this time, I added “Cheap Sleeps Paris.” The marriage did not do as well as the book sales, and after Singapore, I returned to San Diego. Both books are now in their tenth edition.”

No one should get the idea that new editions are just the same old book with a new cover. Each edition is as painstakingly researched as the last. “Advance preparation for a major revision trip usually takes two months, plus from six to eight months of actually being on site. I do not rely on questionnaires, telephone contacts, website information, stringers or any other type of second-hand assistance. I do it all myself. I am dedicated, I work hard, and I stand behind each address I include. My readers know I have been there, and I wouldn’t think of letting them down. For every revision I revisit all addresses in the last book, plus countless new addresses that may or may not make the cut. When checking a new restaurant, I try to see it in action at both lunch and dinner. I do not tell the restaurant who I am, and I always pay my own tab because I want to receive the same food and service my readers can expect. For the hotels, my assessment starts at the curb. If the flowers are dead, the paint is peeling and the hotel windows are dirty, I don’t even bother. I know I won’t like it.”

All the cities into which Sandra has extended the Great Eats/Sleeps brand are near and dear to her, but it is Paris she considers most special. “Paris will always be special because this is where the books began, and over the years it has become my second home. That is not to say it is always easy to live and work here, but the challenge, the diversity, the memories, life-changing moments and the wonderful people I have met thanks to my books have all changed my life in a dramatically positive way. I simply cannot imagine my life without writing my books, especially those about Paris.” And while Paris has changed dramatically in the twenty-five years she’s been making her extended sojourns, it is still as magical a place for her that it always has been. “I think it is better. Maybe because I now know the city so well, feel comfortable there and never tire of the beauty. My life would not be complete without my Parisian connection, which seems to strengthen on every visit.”

Paris may still be magical in Sandra’s eyes, but the world of inexpensive hotels and restaurants has changed much. “There are fewer Great Sleeps. Many of the old places have been renovated and turned into three- and four-star boutique hotels. Of the remaining inexpensive hotels many are in blue-collar locations that are out of the usual tourist mainstream. The tradeoff is they can offer guests a peek at real Parisian life. As for restaurants, the Great Eats locations, whether they are simple corner bistros or Michelin-star restaurants, are definitely best at lunch, when prix-fixe menus offer excellent value for your money. Mama and Papa restaurants are dwindling away, at least in the central parts of Paris. Food costs, rents and just plain hard work have taken a tremendous toll on this Paris cooking institution. Wine bars have become somewhat of a growth industry, providing affordable places for a quick meal and a glass or two of interesting wine. Another interesting trend is the exodus of young chefs from many of the most famous Parisian restaurants. These young talents are opening simple venues in outskirt neighborhoods where the rent is lower and the staff doesn’t mind doing double duty. The payoff is the creative meals that in the more tourist-trodden areas would cost at least double.”

I felt I would be remiss without asking one last question that I knew readers wanted me to ask: What hotel and restaurant are your very favorites? Sandra cringed at this question. “It’s just too hard to answer,” she said. But, I persisted. “This is almost impossible to answer! I like every entry in all of my books. However, if you insist ... I would eat at L’Oulette (15 Place Lachambeaudie, 12th. Tel: 1-40-02-02-12) and sleep in a suite at the Hôtel Duc de St-Simon (14 Rue de St-Simon, 7th. Tel: 1-42-22-07-52).” It’s clear this was painful for her to answer. Each hotel and restaurant in the books is indeed special to her. Each is a hard-fought find that she stands behind with great pride, and she hopes that you will enjoy them too.

—By Mark Eversman

•“Great Eats Paris” and “Great Sleeps Paris,” by Sandra Gustafson (Chronicle Books). Site: www.greateatsandsleeps.com.