Wisdoms of A Culinary Traveler

By Wanda Hennig
From Alameda magazine You know you’ve arrived at “The Motts” when you glance down and see it printed on the doormat. The appetizer-sized woman summoned by the doorbell simmers energy. She could be wearing her Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier apron that has her name, Weezie, custom-stitched in bold letters above the Paris-based cooking school motif. But there’s no class today. No guest chef coming in to cook, or culinary field trip, either for the children to whom Weezie Mott teaches French-style kitchen wizardry in the summer, or the adults who attend her cooking classes to learn, socialize and eat throughout the year. She leads me through the living room, past the delicate shell-inlaid table bought in Turkey from the craftsman who made it. We cross the intricately patterned Turkish rugs that she and her husband, Howard, traded their car to buy. They had, at the time, been living in Turkey for three years — Howard working as Naval attaché with the United States Embassy; Weezie learning the language and about the culture and the food.

To read more, please go to Alameda magazine