L.A.

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Posted: 29 Apr 2014 - David Lebovitz I’m one of those people who loves Los Angeles. Even rarer, I’m one of those San Franciscans who loves Los Angeles. Each sometimes writes off the other, and the two big cities in California are often at odds with each other. One is serious, grey, and a little foreboding and mysterious. The other sunny and warm, with an upbeat attitude that even after visiting for the umpteenth time, I find refreshing. And it always makes me happy to come. My first “Aha!” moment on this visit was when I woke up the morning after dinner at République, the stunning restaurant which took over the space of the former Campanile restaurant. I took the elevator up to the breakfast room of my hotel, to the top floor. When the door opened, my eyes took a moment after being greeted by a sky so bright-blue, I was wondering why I had spent so many years trying to stay warm under the blanket of chilly fog of San Francisco. So a poolside breakfast it was, a plate of scrambled egg whites with kale, squash, avocados and Sriracha sauce, along with a thermos of coffee, and a terrace view. I was ready to move in. Continue Reading L.A....

Food52 Works - new imprint

Publishers Lunch 

Food52, the social website for cooks founded by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, will set up a cookbook imprint at Ten Speed Press called Food52 Works. Hesser and Stubbs will be involved "in shaping the development and direction" of the line, for which Ten Speed associate publisher Hannah Rahill will be general editor.

The initiative delivers on the promise the site made a year ago to "expand our publishing platform through an innovative partnership with Random House Inc.," after Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments was a significant contributor to a $2 million financing round for Food52.

The line expects to publish three or four books years, starting in spring 2015. Food52 executive editor Kristen Miglore is writing the launch title, based on a popular site column: Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook. Two single-subject books (on vegan cooking, and baking) will follow that fall.

WHO CAN RESIST FRIED CHICKEN, COLESLAW AND MASH? WE DISCOVER A CAFE THAT'S PUTTING THE COLONEL TO SHAME...

30 April 2014

HOUSED WITHIN A VERITABLE GARDEN OF EDEN, THIS NEW DINING DESTINATION SHOULD BE ON YOUR MUST VISIT LIST... READ MORE

GASTRONOMY WHO CAN RESIST FRIED CHICKEN, COLESLAW AND MASH? WE DISCOVER A CAFE THAT'S PUTTING THE COLONEL TO SHAME... READ MORE

GASTRONOMY KEEPING THAT DINNER DATE ON THE DOWN LOW? HERE'S WHERE TO DINE WITH DISCRETION... READ MORE

Random House Launches Online Cookbook Store on TasteBook

Read more by Dennis Abrams - Publishing Perspectives

April 28, 2014

By Dennis Abrams

TasteBook, the Random House food community and blog, has announced the launch of The Bookshop, a cooking-focused online bookstore with over 10,000 cookbooks and food-related titles across all publishers. The leading recipe resource on the web shares its tastes in books in a curated way for cooking enthusiasts to discover food reads and purchase titles from their retailer of choice (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore, Indiebound) in the format of their choice.

The Bookshop offers thousands of both new and classic cookbooks and food-related titles in a variety of formats across 18 categories such as celebrity chefs, entertaining, memoir, and more. The online bookshop will help home cooks discover new titles with an author spotlight section, lists, and featured cookbooks. The recipes and content on TasteBook as well as the TasteBook Blog will also include links to cookbooks on The Bookshop.
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Love tarts? Whether you like them sweet or savoury, we're serving up a couple dozen of our favourites this month

Love tarts? Whether you like them sweet or savoury, we're serving up a couple dozen of our favourites this month. It's baking time! Plus, our Hot 100 for 2014; great gifts for Mother's Day; how to eat your way around San Francisco; a recap of this year's Melbourne Food & Wine Festival; and your chance to win a trip to King Island thanks to King Island Dairy, a luxury weekend at Matakauri Lodge in New Zealand, a Waterford crystal glassware set thanks to the DVD release of Philomena, a Trentham Tucker and Breville prize pack, or a chocolate hamper from Baci Perugina! Happy eating, Anthea Loucas and the team at Gourmet Traveller

The Art of Patisserie with Pastry Chef Extraordinaire; Christian Herbulot.

Do you love all of the French pastries you see in the patisserie window?

Come along and master the art of true French pastries. Learn how to make traditional French dough, roll like an expert then cut or shape to create a perfect treat.

Class covers everything from croissants to pain au raisin and pain au chocolate. Learn the secrets that only the French know. Take home pastries to share (or keep for yourself).

Thursday May 8^th 5.30pm to 7.30pm Friday May 9^th 9.30am to 11.30am

Cost $75

Regards

Andrea Hinchco

www.tastethekitchenshop.co.nz

Tel. 09 4250302

16 Mill Lane
Warkworth

Still Life with Breadcrumbs and Berry Scones

Sunday, April 27, 2014 - Posted by Wendy

I recently read Anna Quindlen's "Still Life with Breadcrumbs" as part of a new book club organized by one of my old camp friends.  This is not a book that was on my list or that I was even aware of, but I really liked it a lot.  It is rare these days that a book (or a movie or tv show...) is about a woman over 50, Still Life with Breadcrumbs is a nice break from the norm.  

The book is about Rebecca Winter a famous photographer who has fallen on hard times, is struggling to make ends meet, and hasn't taken many photographs lately.  In an effort to save some money (and perhaps find some inspiration) she escapes her Manhattan apartment to a modest cottage in upstate New York.  It is in this small town (after a few days alone in the cottage with a raccoon, questioning her sanity and her decisions) that she walks into Tea for Two cafe and orders the first of many scones from the proprietor, the chatty Sarah.  While she spends a year in the small town, she consumes many of these scones, finds her artistic voice again and finds love.  Along the way it is an insightful, funny and moving read.

Read more »

Onward…

Posted: 27 Apr 2014 - David Lebovitz

One thing vegans and vegetarians don’t have to worry about is going into a “meat coma.” But I do, as I’ve been in one twice during my week in Texas. On a previous trip, my friend Matt (who own Tèo gelato and espresso shop, in Austin – and is a must-stop) whisked me away from the airport and took me straight out to Lockhart, known for its excellent bbq joints. However since my free time was limited to little less than three hours, total, we decided to stay within the city limits of Austin (or at least nearby) and get my bbq fix there.

Matt told me the two places that were more convenient, since I was pressed for time, and when we drove by Franklin Barbecue and saw what is said to be a three-hour wait (people were, indeed, lined up, sitting in lawn chairs, with coolers of beer), I said, “Keep going…” and we pulled up to Stiles Switch BBQ.

And once inside, I was glad we did. The super-friendly staff at the counter provided yet another Texas-style welcome, spending time telling us about the different kinds of meats, after they found out I lived in Paris. While I appreciated the introduction, I had already honed in one the brisket, the beef ribs, and the pork ribs. All were excellent, but the beef rib was especially good and if that had been my last meal ever, I would have been happy.

Continue Reading Onward…...

Ruth Reichl, a master of memoir, turns to fiction in 2014

Posted by Trisha on December 19, 2013 - The Book Case Blog

Ruth Reichl, the former NYT restaurant reviewer, final editor of Gourmet magazine and author of several best-selling memoirs, will be turning to fiction with her next book. Random House will publish Delicious! in May 2014, "a novel of sisters, family ties, and a young woman who must let go of the past to embrace her own gifts." 

The aforementioned heroine is Billie Breslin, who has moved to New York City to take a job at the food magazine Delicious!. But after Delicious! is abruptly shuttered, Billie discovers of WWII-era letters between a 12-year-old girl and famous chef and cookbook writer James Beard—a correspondence that ends up changing her own life. 

Readers can count on evocative descriptions of NYC and an authentic depiction of the foodie magazine scene—and yes, even a recipe for Billie's famous gingerbread.

Related in BookPage: Read an interview with Ruth Reichl and other coverage of her previous books.

Published by Allen & Unwin in NZ and Australia

A book for foodies and romantics

 Here is a lonk to my discussion with Mark Sainsbury on Radio Live this morning about Ruth Reichl's fiction debut:

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Graham-Beattie-Ruth-R

Eat Your Books

Cookbooks may be at the heart of EYB, but we're also very proud of our magazine collection. To date, we have over 1,500 issues indexed. That's more than 84,000 magazine recipes -- 43,000 of which also have online links. This week, we're excited to share a recipe for Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Pie with Candied Spicy Peanuts from our newest indexed publication, Food Arts Magazine. Food Arts is known for featuring recipes by world-famous chefs accompanied by gorgeous photography. You'll find dishes by Alain Ducasse, Ferran Adrià, Daniel Boulud, David Kinch, René Redzepi, Edward Lee, Gabriel Rucker, and many more. We have a growing number of Food Arts back issues and online recipes you can add to your EYB Bookshelf, so make sure you take a look! If you get the chance to make any of this week's featured recipes, please share your experience with the EYB community by adding a Note to the recipe. Happy cooking and baking everyone! From blogs & magazines: Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Pie with Candied Spicy Peanuts from newly indexed Food Arts Magazine Roasted Carrots and Cherry Tomatoes with Carrot-Top Pesto Dressing from the Apr/May issue of indexed Vegetarian Times Magazine Banana Bundt Cake with Salted Dulce de Leche from Hummingbird High, added with the Bookmarklet From UK books: 7 classic & contemporary Chinese recipes from Sweet Mandarin Cookbook by Helen & Lisa Hse 2 recipes from New Covent Garden Soup Co. Soup & Beyond, indexed by one of our members From AUS/NZ books: 9 recipes from Simply Good Food by Neil Perry More

The Readjustment, and Lockhart Smokehouse BBQ

Posted by David Lebovitz : 24 Apr 2014  It takes me a few days to readjust to life when I come back to the U.S.A. On our last trip, as we stepped off the plane at Dulles, we were confronted with a huge picture of a giant overstuffed sandwich plastered on the wall of a restaurant, which was aptly named, Potbelly. Like the clever titling of The Pretty Kitty salon that I passed the other day in Dallas, whose speciality was Brazilian waxing, I admired the witty double-meaning. (Albeit referring to a place a little farther south.) But I had assumed the only places where a big belly was à la mode were Polynesian places like Guam and Hawaii.  Years back, I did an event with a bunch of nice Hawaiians on the Big Island, who invited me to an after-party. Hûi! I’d never seen so much unrestrained indulging in my life. It was funny being at a party where their weren’t many people, but it was very crowded nonetheless because a big belly is a sign of contentment. (Am not sure what a Brazilian waxing is a sign of.) After arrival in the States, some things I get up-to-speed with right away – customer service, sidewalks not being a constant game of “chicken”, folks politely apologizing if they happen to get in your way, and clean public bathrooms. Other things, like men calling each other “bro”, waiters stopping by every three minutes to see if anything has changed since the last three minutes that they stopped by to ask you if everything is okay, the proliferation of cooking as a competitive activity, and total strangers taking an intense interest in your welfare: My hotel was kind enough to call my room two hours after I’d arrived, after eleven hours of flying, to see if everything was okay. I wanted to say, Well, it was…until you called and woke me up.” But slipping into my polite American mode, I mumbled under my fog of jet lag into the phone, “Everything is okay” instead of saying, “Actually, no, everything is no longer okay. You woke me up and now it’s going to take me seven hours to get back to sleep.” Continue Reading The Readjustment, and Lockhart Smokehouse BBQ...

ANZAC Thins with Salted Caramel

24, April

Another long weekend is upon us, as we pause to think of those who gave their lives in service so many years ago. If you're spending time with friends and family then try the recipe below from Food Editor Claire Aldous, who has put her spin on our traditional ANZAC biscuits, which are ideal for sharing.

RECIPE

ANZAC Thins with Salted Caramel (gf) Thin and crispy is my take on ANZAC biscuits and sandwiching them with delicious salted caramel transforms them into a very special treat. You could also use cooled melted chocolate in place of the caramel or have them plain. View Recipe Duck Ragu with Pangrattato The duck hunting season is almost upon us, but you don’t need to shoot one to eat one. Your local supermarket or butcher should have them on hand, making this duck ragu from Martin Shanahan a great alternative to the Sunday roast. View Recipe