Australian author and podcaster Sarah Wilson’s book I Quit Sugar came out in 2012, spurring her to write 11 more cookbooks and start a worldwide movement in its name.

Now, in her latest release This One Wild and Precious Life, she explores the search for connection, purpose and meaning in a world facing significant challenges.

Among her many and varied achievements, Wilson edited Cosmopolitan and hosted a season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, and now lives in Paris.

We caught up with Wilson recently to talk about her career over afternoon tea at Melbourne’s Sofitel, ahead of her appearance at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

EATING IN

Signature dish and what is your go-to at home

I make massive salads and use ingredients most people think might be wrong together. I like to combine beetroot with pear and white asparagus, and have a thing for Toulouse sausages. I put them through a salad for a protein hit. I have embraced the French love of mustard and am known to throw frozen peas into a meal – they can save just about any dish!

My guilty pleasure

I eat three to four square pieces of 90 per cent dark chocolate every day for breakfast. I also love butter and eat a block of butter every week, and always add salt. A dry martini is another love.

The kitchen wisdom I cling to

My mum had six kids and was so good with food. The wisdom I got from her is “do not peel vegetables or fruit”. A lot of the nutrients are in the skin, and that’s the same with meats. I use the last little bit of everything. I reuse lemon peels, the skin on chickens and the fat on meat. I also live by this mantra: If in doubt, eat as your grandmother or great-grandmother used to eat.

EATING OUT

My favourite hometown restaurant (and go-to dish)

Sean’s in Bondi. It’s the closest I’ve experienced to European hospitality, where you feel like you’re in someone’s home. In many ways you are. Sean cooks what he sources from his farm. It’s a small menu, and changes daily based on what he farms. The place is also one of the few remaining places you can BYO.

Fratelli Paradiso, Potts Point. I love a big Sardinian red wine, consumed while sitting at the bar eating stuffed, breaded and fried olives. I used to live in an Airbnb above this place and would go down for a glass of wine. I wrote the final chapter of This One Wild and Precious Life sitting here.

I also love a burger from Bonditony’s Burger Joint and would often go there with my foster kids. We’d get takeout to eat on the beach. I love the Trippin’ Zeahorse, “naked” with sweet potato fries. I love Tony – the madly passionate owner – and I love the early-’90s vibe of the place.

My favourite hometown cafe and/or bar, and what I like to order

M Deli Cafe Tamarama is always my stop-off before heading on a hike. They make nuts, seeds and chocolate bars that can keep me going for hours. Their quiches are also ridiculously abundant.

Pre-hike food hubs

These are some cool spots I eat before I go out on a hike in NSW. Try Boathouse Patonga. I catch the bus from Sydney to Palm Beach to connect with a ferry across to Patonga to hike around to Pearl Beach. They do a great egg and bacon roll, and try the potato scallops.

Pilgrims Cronulla. I catch the train down to Cronulla from Central, then catch the ferry to Bundeena and hike the Coast Track along the whole length of the Royal National Park to Otford railway station and catch the train back to Sydney. In Cronulla, I like to stop at the vegetarian institution Pilgrims for an epic Mountain Burger. If you hike the other way, you can arrive into Bundeena for a cocktail and fish tacos at The Salty Pearl.

The Church, Glenbrook, Blue Mountains. For a great day hike, I catch the train up to the Red Hands Cave circuit, stopping off in Jellybean Pool for a swim, then eat a cheese toastie at the cafe in the old church right at the start of the walk, now called The Underground.

My Melbourne favourites

I like Kafeneion, located above The European where I used to work when it first opened. It’s a very old-school and healthy Greek food spot – order the pork and lemon with horta on the side.

Patricia Coffee Brewers on Little Bourke for coffee standing up always reminds me of Paris. I love the cocktails at Apollo Inn – I scour the world for good gin martinis and like them with olives, a little bit dirty, with a vibrant vermouth. I’m not a big drinker, so I seek quality over quantity.

I like to go to Heide Kitchen at Heidi Museum of Modern Art. I love anything that owner Nathan Toleman does. For a special occasion, order a picnic hamper.

ON THE ROAD

Favourite food city and what I love about it

I love Paris. For a classic old-school French experience, go to Chez Georges in the second arrondissement. It’s bustling and packed. They make beautiful fish with all the old-fashioned sauces, an entrecote with bone marrow, and the tarte tatin with creme fraiche is the best. I don’t eat much sugar; I will eat this.

In the Marais, Au Petit Fer a Cheval is highly recommended. All the ingredients and wines are organic. The plate of the day is often vegetables; something your mum would make. I recently ate a beautiful pork meatball wrapped in prosciutto and served on shredded cauliflower with cauliflower leaves sauteed in butter for 18 euros.

Highly recommend the natural wine bars in Paris – mostly those in the 9th, 10th and 11th arrondissements. It’s like those hidden laneways bars you’d find in Melbourne in the ’90s. Try Billili for really good-quality food. They’re famous for oeuf mayonnaise and sausages.

If you want good gluten-free options, try Les Copains. There are three in Paris –they make gluten-free everything and I recommend the croissants.

Judy Paris is a gluten-free place with Australian coffee for when you’re hankering for sunny, bright Aussie food. They have bone broth on the menu. Le Chardon is another restaurant I like. It’s a cute bistro terrace, all organic food and fresh.