About Me
My name is Paola Westbeek, and I am a food, wine, and travel journalist. Though I have always loved all things French, my passion for the country and its culture really started to blossom somewhere in my early 20s during a trip to the Alsace region. I was captivated by the landscape, culture, music (play me an old Aznavour record and all is good in the world again), and, of course, the food and wine. Each subsequent trip saw me falling for the charms of France even more. So much so, that I have devoted a large part of my career to declaring my love for the country—through words.
I served as the food & drinks columnist for Reader's Digest UK and my work has been featured in other UK publications such as FRANCE Magazine and French Property News. I had a regular culinary column in French Property News and was responsible for the food and drink news pages of FRANCE Magazine.
I regularly write for leading France publications published in the Netherlands, such as Leven in Frankrijk and En Route (which featured my culinary columns). Additionally, I write about wine for Decanter, and my work has been regularly featured in respected gastronomic journal Bouillon and KLM’s inflight magazine Holland Herald. My work also regularly appears in award-winning travel magazines such as b.spirit. I am also part of the Homo Faber team of journalists. You’ll find some of my wine writing in Family Owned.
Besides writing about France, I am also chief editor for DUTCH (the only magazine about the Netherlands, published in Canada and the US and available in digital form internationally). Interested in working together? Have a look at my website and a selection of my work.