the cautionary tale of bill buford.on with a perfectly good job as fiction editor at the prestigious "new yorker" magazine. at the undignified age of 53 he pretty much pulled up stakes, put his whole past life on hold, and defected to france, to learn how to cook. what happened to you anyway, buford? you used to have a good job, you hung out a couple nights with batali and next thing you know you're living in france. >> it's true. >> and cooking. >> i discovered a whole world that the rest of the world didn't seem to know about, just a very compressed and tense lifelong learned expertise and knowledge of food. it's not the food network and it's not glossy magazines and it's not something you get from reading a recipe book. it's something you get by just going deep. i was afraid of france because i knew if i went -- took on the subject of french food i would have to go really deep. so we went and we thought we'd stay for six months, and we stayed for five years. >> we meet at bouchon contrel. a bouchon is a uniquely lyon

the cautionary tale of bill buford.perfectly good job as fiction editor at the prestigious "new yorker" magazine. at the undignified age of 53 he pretty much pulled up stakes, put his whole past life on hold, and defected to france, to learn how to cook. what happened to you anyway, buford? you used to have a good job, you hung out a couple nights with batali and next thing you know you're living in france. >> it's true. >> and cooking. >> i discovered a whole world that the rest of the world didn't seem to know about, just a very compressed and tense lifelong learned expertise and knowledge of food. it's not the food network and it's not glossy magazines and it's not something you get from reading a recipe book. it's something you get by just going deep. i was afraid of france because i knew if i went -- took on the subject of french food i would have to go really deep. so we went and we thought we'd stay for six months, and we stayed for five years. >> we meet at bouchon contrel. a bouchon is a uniquely lyonnaise inst

bill buford did just that and made lyon his home.re only someone from the home team could be expected to know about. >> it's a beautiful day. the sky is blue. we're feeling the seasons changing and we're about to go into a dark room, and you eat a very lyonnaise menu and you drink a vast quantity of lyonaise wine. >> and what sinister bodies will be in there? >> the only kind of people who would do this kind of thing on a bright pretty day, it's a very male tradition. you work hard, you drink harder. ♪ >> oh! >> uh-oh. >> don't be afraid. >> don't be afraid. >> the mysterious, fabulous, goofy, wonderful bro-fests called franc machon are basically eating and drinking societies that go back over a century, when the silk workers of lyon would finish their night shifts early in the morning. hungry and looking to get, shall we say, completely hammered, they take over a bouchon, stuff their faces like heroes, blow off the proverbial steam in decidedly french fashion, which is to say no freaking guytalian nachos or mozzarella sticks for the

bill buford did just that and made lyon his home.e is taking me where only somebody from the home team could be expected to know about. >> it is a beautiful day, the sky is blue, we're feeling the seasons changing and we're about to go into a dark room and you eat a menu from lyon, and drink a vast quantity of wine. >> who would be there? >> the only people who would do this, it is a very male tradition. you work hard, you drink harder. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> don't be afraid. >> don't be afraid. >> the mysterious, fabulous, goofy wonderful bro fest, these are basically eating and drinking societies that go back over a century when the silk workers of lyon would finish their night work. hungry and looking to get completely hammered they take over, stuff their faces like heroes, blow off the steam in decidedly french fashion. which is to say no freaking nachos or mozzarella sticks for these boys, hell no. >> some secret. all of them are like special memberships. there must be 50 of these things, remember if you're invited to be a member you remain a