About Emma

In January 2011, I moved to Paris from the UK. I religiously documented my discoveries (both good and bad) on a blog known as Burnt Cream. It started out as Liberté, Egalité, Crème Brûlée – but that was just far too long… and I wanted to highlight that even something that sounds as fantastic as crème brûlée is literally just, when you understand French, “burnt cream.” I lapped up everything the city could offer with the enthusiasm of someone who has not yet been worn down by the daily grind of métro-boulot-dodo. I wrote from the perspective of an expat in France, but with the local knowledge that can only come from pacing these streets until the soles of your shoes have worn thin.

I daylighted in the wine and spirits industry (buying, selling, promoting, picking, pressing…) and moonlighted in restaurants and wine bars and also guiding for Paris by Mouth.

For several years, I also ran a supper club from my apartment (which I nicknamed “Burnt Food” – you see I set my standards high!) and organised introductory and intermediate level sessions on wine tasting (“Burnt Wine.”)

In 2014, a combination of professional and personal reasons meant that it was time for me to move on and push my horizons further. I kept a “pied à terre” in Paris for a while but eventually, it was time to move on.

At the beginning of 2017, life changed direction again and I settled in the Veneto, in northern Italy. I now live with my boyfriend – a winemaker – and my dog – who would much rather I didn’t write this blog and instead that I play ball with her! We’re renovating an old house and you can follow the updates by clicking on this link.

P.S. If you want to find out what I’m doing in my professional life, please go and check out my website and the wine blog.