On the Road Again
The rule in our house is, always get out of San Francisco to somewhere sunny at some point in July or August. Just when we thought we could take no more damp fog, Paula and I decamped to coastal Maine earlier this month. We spent a spirited week eating as much lobster and blueberry pie as we could, seeing friends, wearing shorts, and buying vintage books. A highlight of the trip was finally seeing Rabelais Books, New England's only cookbook store, as well as meeting my long-time book-dealer friend at Lobster Lane Books. I also picked up some great cookbook treasures along the way up the coast, and am now surrounded by unopened boxes in my (fog-shrouded) shop.
July and August events really picked up, so thanks, everyone, for coming out and supporting our wonderful food book authors! The winning dishes from our two food contests were heavenly stone fruit gallettes at our July Stone Fruit Contest, and a yellow tomato gazpacho from Sunday Supers at Lucques at August's Tomato Contest (made by our very own Paula Harris). The Tequila Tasting with Joanne Weir was a smash hit (and yes, we were all pretty smashed by the end). The food history authors who came to speak riveted me most, from Andrews Beahrs (Twain's Feast) to Ed Behr (The Art of Eating) and Jane Ziegelman (97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement); I find the connection between food's past to the present utterly fascinating, and it's the main reason I shelve both new and antiquarian books together. When you can see books with instructions on foraging or canning from the time of their necessity in the 19th century, to the wartime campaigns of 1917 and 1943, up to the back-to-the-land movement in the 1960's-70's, and now in vogue again, all together on one shelf, it just brings everything together.
September is the beginning of the fall season of cookbooks; you can see a smattering of them on my New Books page, but there are more coming every day, from England, Australia, the U.S., and even France and Spain. Our events in September feature the authors of some of the best cookbooks coming out next month, and because the tequila tasting was so much fun, we've added a Scotch Tasting on Sept. 2, as well as a Wine Tasting with master sommelier Evan Goldstein on Sept. 16.
Lastly, the evening event for Rene Redzepi at Delancey Street Theater is SOLD OUT, but he has kindly agreed to sign any books purchased at Omnivore at 3 p.m. on Oct. 4, at the shop. So, if you didn't manage to grab a ticket for his 7 p.m. event, please come meet him earlier in the afternoon at my shop.
Thanks again for your patronage; I love running my shop, chatting with all of you, and finding the books that make you all so happy (especially if I can find them in Maine),
Best,
Celia Sack, Owner
Omnivore Books on Food
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September Events at Omnivore Books
Thurs. Sept. 2 • Single Malt Scotch Whisky Tasting with Mark Stewart Cassidy • 6-7:30 p.m. • $5
Whisky specialist Mark Cassidy is in demand throughout the year for his private Scotch whisky tastings. Mark will introduce a few of his favorite bottles; discuss the six distilling regions in Scotland and the growing trend towards Organic Scotch (which you’ll taste)!
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Thurs. Sept. 9 • Food Heroes: 16 Culinary Artisans Preserving Traditions by Georgia Pellegrini • 6-7 p.m. • Free
In Food Heroes, Pellegrini introduces readers to the lively stories of artisanal food devotees such as New York mushroom forager Marion Burroughs, French fig collector Francis Honore, fish missionary Jon Rowley in Washington State, and Ugo Buzzio in New York City, one of the last makers of traditional dry-cured sausages in the United States. Filled with colorful anecdotes, photographs, and recipes, this book offers an accessible introduction to the artisanal food movement.
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Sun. Sept. 12 • Flavors of Friuli: A Culinary Journey Through Northeastern Italy. Elisabeth Crawford • 3-4 p.m. • Free
Tiny Friuli–Venezia Giulia—hidden from tourist mobs in Italy’s northeast corner—boasts one of the country’s most distinctive regional cuisines, including gnocchi stuffed with juicy plums and then tossed in browned butter, sugar, and cinnamon, pasta filled with dried figs and ricotta, and even chocolate and walnuts.
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Thurs. Sept. 16 • Daring Pairings: A Master Sommelier Matches Distinctive Wines with Recipes from his Favorite Chefs • Evan Goldstein • 6-7 p.m. • Free
Bringing to bear a wealth of knowledge and experience, master sommelier Goldstein offers some novel approaches to unusual wines. His concern is not what foods go with ubiquitous varietals on the order of cabernet and zinfandel, but obscure grapes such as txacoli, assyrtiko, and mencia. Each wine description comes with a wealth of information about nomenclature, geographic origin, and production. He inventories not only the sorts of foods that match well with specific wines but also those whose flavors clash with or obscure the wine’s best characteristics. Come taste with us!
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Tues. Sept. 21 • My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time • Gesine Bullock-Prado • 6-7 p.m. • Free
Bullock-Prado recounts the joys and heartbreaks of running her own patisserie in Montpelier, Vermont. Having fled the soul-sucking routine in Los Angeles with her husband, Ray, for the simpler pleasures of a small town near the Green Mountains, the author opened her own bake shop, Gesine Confectionary, in 2004, mostly on the fame of the macaroons she refashioned from her German mother's favorite almond treat.
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Thurs. Sept. 23 • D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Foods from Scratch • Vanessa Barrington • 6-7 p.m. • Free
D.I.Y. Delicious goes beyond pickling and preserving into fermenting, culturing cheese, and brewing sodas and tonics. A total of 75 recipes and more than 50 step-by-step, color photographs lead the way to outfitting a scratch pantry that uses fewer ingredients to make delicious staples at a much lower cost.
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Sat. Sept. 25 • The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook • Rachel Saunders • 3-4 p.m. • Free
Rachel Saunders's The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook is the definitive jam and marmalade cookbook of the 21st century. In addition to offering more than 100 original jam, jelly, and marmalade recipes, master jam artisan Rachel Saunders shares all of her technical preserving knowledge, as well as her unique jam maker's perspective on fruit.
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Monday October 4 • René Redzepi • Noma: Place and Time in Nordic Cuisine.
3:00 p.m. Book Signing at Omnivore Books. Rene will sign copies of his new book purchased at Omnivore. • Free
7:00 p.m. In conversation with Daniel Patterson. • Delancey Street Theater, 600 The Embarcadero. • Event is SOLD OUT.
We have set up the first U.S. event with Chef René Redzepi, to celebrate his upcoming cookbook, Noma: Place and Time in Nordic Cuisine (Phaidon). Redzepi's Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, was recently named the best in the world. René will sign books purchased from Omnivore at both events, but if you can't make it, we'll be happy to arrange shipping a signed copy to you. Because of heightened interest in Chef Redzepi, he will be giving a presentation off-site from my shop, at the charming Delancey Street Theater. Map • Frank Bruni Article