In “The Paris Novel,” protagonist Stella St. Vincent lives a modest life as a New York City copywriter. Her existence is comfortable, but devoid of any true joy.

That is until her estranged mother passes away and Stella is bequeathed a small inheritance and enigmatic directive—”Go to Paris.”

Acclaimed food writer, memoirist and novelist Ruth Reichl will discuss “The Paris Novel” this Thursday, March 27 at the annual All Henrico Reads event, held at the Henrico Sports & Events Center. Doors for the event will open a little before 7 p.m. and there will be an audience Q&A and book signing after Reichl’s presentation says Alex Hamby, one of the assistant library directors for the Henrico County Public Library. There will also be an onsite book vendor with copies of “The Paris Novel” for sale.

Hamby explains that for the past 16 years, members of the All Henrico Reads committee have chosen annual themes that tie into the big author-led event. This year’s theme is art-based, “color our world.”

With her novel about food, fashion and art in the City of Light, “Ruth Reichl was the perfect fit for the library this year,” says Hamby

We caught up with Reichl ahead of her River City visit.

On writing fiction

Style Weekly: You’ve been a prolific nonfiction writer for years—what drew you to the world of fiction?

Ruth Reichl: I grew up in publishing—my father was a book designer and of all my parents’ friends were in publishing. I grew up in this atmosphere where fiction was considered the highest calling. I love fiction, I’m kind of addicted to it. It’s my favorite drug, being able to disappear into someone else’s life. It never occurred to me to write fiction until I’d been a journalist for a long time and then I started saying to people, “If I didn’t have a day job, I would write a novel.” I had said it for so long that when Gourmet closed [in 2009], I’m like “Oh my god, I don’t have a day job.”

How do you keep yourself from going down the rabbit hole when you’re doing research for your books?

Oh, I let myself go. When I was writing “Delicious!” [Reichl’s debut novel published 2014] I ended up knowing so much about Federal architecture. I spent weeks studying locks—I can’t even remember why—and the history of oysters in New York. I grew up in an age where we didn’t have computers, so you had to go the library you had to know exactly what you were looking for. Now with your computer you do end up going down endless rabbit holes. For me it’s not wasted time. I love learning new things. Now I have a reason to do it.

I loved getting to know your characters in “The Paris Novel.” What is your hope for Stella St. Vincent off the page?

It’s funny you say that—I’m working on a sequel because I want to know, too.

On food writing

After years of working as both a food critic and food editor [Reichl took over as the Los Angeles Times restaurant editor in 1984, was the food critic at Los Angeles Times and The New York Times and served as editor-in-chief of Gourmet from 1999 until its close in 2009] which role would you say you enjoyed more?

There’s an easy answer to that. Being a food editor both at the LA Times and Gourmet magazine were beyond any doubt the best jobs I’ve ever had. Being a food critic is very high profile, the idea fascinates everybody and as a writer it’s really interesting. I love that, too. But to remake a food section [at the LA Times] in the mid-’80s when American food was just coming of age—that was the most exciting thing. At that time, the food section was considered the women’s pages. It was so disrespected by the male editors who thought it was just there to provide enough money [through ads and coupons] for the real paper to exist. I told my editor, “This section is important, it’s a great way to cover a city. You can say things in a food section you can’t say in a news section. You can introduce people to the city. I mean, this is a way of talking about agriculture, community, history, sociology. There’s nothing you can’t cover in the food section.”

How do you think food writing has evolved and how has our consumption of this kind of writing changed?

You are still finding great food writing happening but … no one is sitting down to read a physical newspaper. It’s a very different time. When I was running the food section at the LA Times it was pre-internet. People were happy to do that thing that you do in a newspaper, it’s not targeted. The way we use the internet you look specifically for what you want. If you’re reading a physical newspaper, you’re happening upon things you didn’t know you wanted to read.

Speaking of targeted reading, tell me about your Substack,“La Briffe.”

I have to say I’m really thrilled with that is happening on Substack. It’s an amazing platform and easy to use. The thing that scares me about it is it’s more of our self-selection, right? It’s another place where we go to read things we already believe in. But it is a fearless form in a time when X, when Twitter used to be a place where you’d go to get real news in real time and it’s not any more…Substack has become that place where you’re not getting it minute by minute like Twitter but you can get information that you can trust. And for writers, unlike most outlets for freelance writers which pay you three months after you have turned your story in, Substack pays you the day the money comes in. And that really matters for writers.

On dining

Will you have time to grab a bite in Richmond during your visit?

I’ll only be in town very, very briefly. There are so many places I’d like to try including Stella’s. Is The Roosevelt open late? That’s a place that really interests me.

The All Henrico Reads event featuring Ruth Reichl takes place Thursday, March 27 at the Henrico Sports and Events Center (1 All Star Blvd., Glen Allen) starting at 7 p.m. The event is free to attend.

You can order a copy of The Paris Novel online or snag a copy at your local library.