You don't have to go to Paris for those pastel-colored pillows of ground almonds. Laurent Merdy, pastry chef of Blue Duck Tavern, M & 24th Sts NW, makes them.

If you'd prefer them made from walnuts - a denser cookie - head up to Yasaman Bakery, in the Ritchie Center on Rockville Pike, MD. 

Graham Bartlett is executive chef of Zengo, where you can find almost everything from ceviche to sushi. He caught the “food bug” while traveling with his parents in Mexico. But Paris, not the States nor Latin America was where he went to learn the culinary arts.