Lorie Fangio on French Cooking, Curated Travel and A Taste of Paris

Fangio adapts her French recipes before teaching them. American ingredients and ovens, she says, are different. Photo by Joyce Marshall

Before Lorie Fangio ’84 founded A Taste of Paris, her culinary business that’s been taking small groups of foodies to France since 2014, she was teaching cooking classes in her home and craving a new adventure. One day, as she was describing an apricot almond tart recipe inspired by a visit to a Parisian bakery, a longtime student asked, “When are you going to take us with you?”  

This question opened Fangio’s mind to her next big career step. It was a surreal moment, she said. “I felt like the whole world kept moving, but I wasn’t moving. And that night I had this dream in vivid color about bringing my love of France and food together and sharing that with the people that were in my classes and in my world.”

PROFESSIONAL PATH

Fangio, who graduated from TCU with a home economics education degree, began her career in the apparel industry. She was accepted into a competitive Dillard’s executive training program right out of college and learned how to manage people. She went on to work for a garment manufacturer, where she managed the design room, and then worked in textile design, where she headed a department.

Twelve years into her career, Fangio became a stay-at-home mom. With her newfound freedom, she began throwing themed get-togethers for friends and family, experimenting with new recipes. She also began traveling to France to take culinary classes.

With a nudge from a friend, Fangio began teaching French-inspired cooking classes in culinary schools throughout North Texas. In 2012, when her favorite cooking school closed, Fangio began welcoming students to her home kitchen in McKinney, Texas, for culinary instruction.

“I like [teaching at home] so much better because the classes are more intimate,” Fangio said, “they can be truly hands-on, and I get to know my students.”

Her home cooking classes, held once or twice a month for groups of no more than a dozen, include an ever-changing variety of dishes created by Fangio, often adapted from French recipes.

“I made all of the modifications to be geared toward the American home chef,” she said, “because our ingredients, our ovens, everything is different.” Her repertoire includes European breads, Italian pastas with homemade sauces and pastries like pavlova, a meringue and fresh fruit confection.

She also uses her college training in presentation and food chemistry — what happens when you bring ingredients together — to correct errors and improve student efforts.

“I want people to have the hands-on, eyes-on experience,” she said. “​​I focus on French technique, and I think sometimes just touching something, seeing something and actually doing it helps a person feel confident.”

“Amazing things happen when you break bread in France.”
Lorie Fangio

Fangio said the primary goal of her classes is for students to be able to go home and create food that brings people together around a table, connecting with each other. Sometimes, that’s as simple as cookies.

“My children would say my chocolate chip cookies are the best in the world,” Fangio said. The recipe, which Fangio has altered and perfected, originally came from her grandmother.  

Fangio’s success with cooking classes brought more opportunities over the years, such as starring in the Home Hints With Lorie Fangio radio program, being a spokesperson for Zoe’s Kitchen and Ziploc, making TV appearances on Good Morning Texas, writing for local publications and blogging. 

A UNIQUE TASTE OF FRANCE

A bottle of wine, a glass and a Paris map form a still life in Fangio’s McKinney, Texas, home. Photo by Joyce Marshall

Fangio continued her culinary studies in France and earned several wine certifications. Prompted by that student’s question — “When are you going to take us with you?” — she began leading weeklong culinary excursions to France in 2014. Paris is Fangio’s flagship trip, but she also takes small groups to Provence, the Loire Valley and the Burgundy and Champagne regions.  

Activities, which vary based on the destination, always include cooking classes with the best local chefs, as well as food and beverage tastings and excursions. “It’s a white glove treatment,” said Nancy Driver, a cooking class student who has gone on multiple trips with A Taste of Paris. Fangio “has taught me how to live more abundantly.”  

One of Fangio’s goals is to guide her travelers toward experiences they would not be able to find on their own. Participants have attended wine tastings in caves where the Knights Templar once gathered and taken a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu. “It’s a very unusual, curated travel experience,” said Janis Wells, A Taste of Paris trip attendee, “because she’s very concerned about making sure that what we do is unique.”

“I always say amazing things happen when you break bread in France. Stories of triumph great and small tend to tumble out. … What I did not expect was how spending time with these remarkable individuals would impact me,” Fangio said. “Connection is so important and in our rapidly paced lives … I believe the greatest gift we have is to share ourselves with each other in an honest and open way.”

With so many trips to France under her belt, Fangio has developed a few guidelines for a smooth travel experience:

Take your pictures and then put the phone up and be present. This is how the best experiences happen.

When you’re in a very touristic area, do not sit down to eat. Get off the beaten path, look and see where you see people you know are locals, and go there because that’s where you’re going to find good food.

Don’t worry about calories. Just realize that you burn a lot when you’re traveling and be in the moment, taste something different and new and just enjoy.

Learn a few words of French. The French are a very polite society and expect you to speak to them. Hello, bonjour; and thank you, merci: These two little words will get you very far. 

Travel must-haves: An umbrella, but always expect sunshine; a great blazer because it cleans up any look; and a fantastic pair of jeans that can be dressed up or down.

Edited for length and clarity.

— As told to Madilyn Kopec