Restaurant Critic, Journalist, Food Writer, Women Champion, Paris, France

Since the start of the WOW Woman project, I have never met a food or restaurant critic. So, meeting one in Paris, the culinary utopia of the world, brought me straight into the big leagues. I was introduced to Ms. Estérelle Payany by another WOW Woman, a chocolate sommelier; of course I knew I would be in for a ride.

I loved our brief but memorable lunch during which I realized how different the senses behave when you are actually forced to pause and analyze the flavors in your food. It was illuminating. Of course, the best part of the experience was trying to keep the food in my mouth, because Esterelle is a very funny lady. The sass and cheekiness in WOW Women is something I’m very much acquainted with and celebrate very much.

Finally, some things Ms. Payany does not mention because boasting apparently isn’t part of her “inner software”. I will gladly do the boasting for her. According to our friend Wikipedia, Ms. Esterelle Payany is the author or co-author of more than thirty books on cooking and gastronomy , including “L'Encyclopédie de la Cuisine Végétarienne”, which won the 2016 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook. Additionally, in 2019, Esterelle published “Cheffes - 500 Women Who Make The Difference In The Kitchens Of France”, co-written with the journalist Vérane Frediani. It lists more than 500 restaurants run by female chefs-cooks in France.

1. Name.

Estérelle Payany.

2. Where is your hometown?

Paris, France.

3. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation? What does your average day look like?

Journalist, restaurant critic and a food writer.

4. What did you study in school?

French Literature and Information Sciences (interestingly, I did not attend a journalism school).

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)? Write about some of the achievements that you are most proud of. What was the moment for you that changed your life, in your personal life and/or career, that set you on the current path in life?

If I answer this full, it will be a long and complicated answer. I was lucky that at the ripe age of 30, while I wrote in my own blog, an editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine read a couple of my posts. She asked if I would write for her and this simply changed my life. One thing lead to the next, books and newspaper articles followed; but it was always on the food-related subjects.

6. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20?

I never dared to dream of making a living through only writing! It was never an option I imagined for myself. Perhaps I thought I would become a French literature teacher.

7. Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

As the Japanese proverb states: “Fall down seven times, stand up eight”. It’s true in my case. I always choose to think that things happen for a good reason., even when I fail or miss something. Although sometimes you may not know the reason for many many years. Until then, the universe may have a different mission for you altogether.

8. Advice for other women?

Try hard to cooperate with other women, rather than competing with them.

9. Knowing what we know now in a current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

I just read and enjoyed “We Should All Be Feminists”, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I recommend it to anyone who isn’t bothered to concern themselves with this topic or thinks feminist term is an insult.

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

Wherever my loved ones are.

11. What extracurricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

Pride in self or boasting are not part of my inner software, so nothing to answer.

12. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

Fear of missing out; this is a journalist’s problem of course.

13. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

I wouldn’t change a thing!

14. What inspires you?

Pirates. Cats.

15. What are you hopeful about?

I’m not an optimistic person. But I do try to stay polite.

16. What are some ingredients to a good life? Has the global pandemic changed your perspective about the world, about your life, your goals and dreams?

• Simplicity is key

• Make the most of what you already have

• Treasure what you have

• Don’t look at other people or their stuff: look inside of you for all the good stuff

17. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why? What are your superpowers?

My superpowers are my:

1. Stubbornness - if I really want something, beware! Thank God, I don’t really want things too often.

2. Organization - I like Excel sheets and organising my professional life in order to make the most of it

3. Humour - You can work in a serious way, without being too serious.

My other superpower is going every week to see my shrink. Therapy saves my life!

19. What are you reading now? (what books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

Most gifted: “A Room of One's Own” by Virginia Woolf. Everyone should read it by the age of 20.

Right now, I’m reading “Cheffes de Cuisine: Women and Work in the Professional French Kitchen” by Rachel E. Black.

One of my favorite books is “La Vie Mode d'Emploi” from Georges Perec, translated as “Life: A User’s Manual”. (According to reviews, this book is a “tapestry of interwoven stories and ideas as well as literary and historical allusions, based on the lives of the inhabitants of a fictitious Parisian apartment block, 11 rue Simon-Crubellier. Structured around a single moment in time ― 8:00 p.m. on June 23, 1975 ― Perec's spellbinding puzzle begins in an apartment block in the XVIIth arrondissement of Paris where, chapter by chapter, room by room, like an onion being peeled, an extraordinary rich cast of characters is revealed in a series of tales that are bizarre, unlikely, moving, funny, or (sometimes) quite ordinary”.

20. Who is a WOW WOMAN in your world who inspires you and why?

Verane Frediani is an amazing filmmaker, producer, director, editor, journalist, author and photographer who is passionate about highlighting women working in gastronomy. Her Instagram accounts are @veranefrediani and @thegoddessesoffood. She is such an amazing partner in crime as we collaborated on several projects.

21. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

Instagram: @esterelle. Everyweek you can find my food reviews in @teleramasortir. You can sometimes find me and my work in bookstores.

Bonus Quick Round Qs:

1. What and who is worth suffering for? Freedom.

2. If you didn't have to work anymore what would you do with your days? I would be a book editor or a film producer.

3. If you could be anyone for a day who would you be?

4. If you could relive one year in your life, which one would it be? 2005, when my first son was born.

5. What bothers you most about other people? What do you love most about other people? What bothers me: that they are not me. What I love: that they are not me.