But he was also a genuine bon vivant who took distinctly non-American sensual pleasure in eating and drinking and devoted small fortunes and hours of his time to seeking out decadent meals.
Coastal sorts take their cues on the subject from Alice Waters, the owner of a famous restaurant in Berkeley, who has started a movement for food that is not only organic and local but altogether more soulful and sensual.
But the most startling thing about Turin's guide was the precision with which he translated asensual experience into words (Gucci's Rush "smells like an infant's breath mixed with his mother's hair spray").
The setting seems stark in the midday sun, but when the sun drops and the light shifts, a form of alchemy transforms the scene into one of sensual beauty.