Marina O'loughlin

The definitive biography of America’s best-known and least-understood food personality, and the modern culinary landscape he shaped. In the first portrait of James Beard in twenty-five years, John Birdsall accomplishes what no prior telling of Beard’s life and work has done: He looks beyond the public image of the "Dean of American Cookery" to give voice to the gourmet’s complex, queer life and, in the process, illuminates the history of American food in the twentieth century. At a time when stuffy French restaurants and soulless Continental cuisine prevailed, Beard invented something strange and new: the notion of an American cuisine. Informed by previously overlooked correspondence, years of archival research, and a close reading of everything Beard wrote, this majestic biography traces the emergence of personality in American food while reckoning with the outwardly gregarious Beard’s own need for love and connection, arguing that Beard turned an unapologetic pursuit of pleasure into a new model for food authors and experts. Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1903, Beard would journey from the pristine Pacific Coast to New York’s Greenwich Village by way of gay undergrounds in London and Paris of the 1920s. The failed actor–turned–Manhattan canapé hawker–turned–author and cooking teacher was the jovial bachelor uncle presiding over America’s kitchens for nearly four decades. In the 1940s he hosted one of the first television cooking shows, and by flouting the rules of publishing would end up crafting some of the most expressive cookbooks of the twentieth century, with recipes and stories that laid the groundwork for how we cook and eat today. In stirring, novelistic detail, The Man Who Ate Too Much brings to life a towering figure, a man who still represents the best in eating and yet has never been fully understood―until now. This is biography of the highest order, a book about the rise of America’s food written by the celebrated writer who fills in Beard’s life with the color and meaning earlier generations were afraid to examine. 16 pages of photographs

“Anyone with even the vaguest interest in food (or other people’s houses generally) should order Carrie Solomon and Adrian Moore’s newly released Chefs’ Fridges.”—British Vogue "If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite chef eats at home, now’s your chance to find out. Chefs’ Fridges hops all over the continents of North America and Europe, peeking inside the home fridges of Nancy Silverton, Hugh Acheson, Enrique Olvera, José Andrés, Jessica Koslow, and more acclaimed chefs."—Food & Wine Find out what’s in some of the world’s most esteemed chef’s kitchens with this fascinating compendium that showcases more than thirty-five of today’s masters, including José Andrés, Christina Tosi, Alice Waters, Daniel Boulud, Nancy Silverton, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Ludo Lefebvre, and Carla Hall—in up-close profiles and gorgeous color photos, plus two recipes for the dishes they like to cook at home. For authors Carrie Solomon and Adrian Moore, and demonstrably, to the rest of the world, chefs are intriguing creatures. Their creations shape our culture and become an indelible part of our experience. They make food delicious beyond our wildest dreams. But what happens when the chef whites come off and they head home? Filled with exclusive photographs and interviews granted especially for this book, Chefs’ Fridges is a personal look into the refrigerators and kitchens of more than 35 of the world’s most esteemed chefs, including twelve chefs with thirty-six Michelin stars shared between them. You will feel as if you are having a conversation with a great chef as they stand before an open fridge, deciding what to eat. Each chef’s entry contains an anecdotal essay that sheds light on his or her personal and culinary background; numerous annotated full-bleed spreads of the contents of their refrigerators and freezers so you can see what makes their culinary clock tick; a short, straightforward Q&A section; an informal portrait in their kitchen; and recipes. The featured chefs include: Hugh Acheson, José Andrés, Dan Barber, Pascal Barbot, Kristian Baumann, Daniel Boulud, Sean Brock, Amanda Cohen, Dominique Crenn, Wylie Dufresne, Kristen Essig, Pierre Gagnaire, Carla Hall, Mason Hereford, Jordan Kahn, Tom Kitchin, Jessica Koslow, Ludo Lefebvre, Nadine Levy Redzepi, Barbara Lynch, Greg Marchand, David McMillan, Enrique Olvera, Ivan Orkin, Paco Perez, Anthony Rose, Marie-Aude Rose, Carme Ruscalleda, Nancy Silverton, Clare Smyth, Mette Soberg, Alex Stupak, Christina Tosi, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Alice Waters.

Pizza, pasta, and olive oil: today, it’s hard to imagine any supermarket without these items. But how did these foods—and many more Italian ingredients—become so widespread? In this book, Diego Zancani maps the extraordinary progress of Italian food, from the legacy of the Roman invasion to its current, ever-increasing popularity. Starting with medieval manuscripts, he traces Italian recipes in Britain back to the thirteenth century, and draws on later travel diaries to explore British and American encounters with Italian food abroad. The book also shows how Italian immigrants, from ice-cream sellers and grocers to chefs and restauranteurs, had a transformative influence on the spread of the cuisine, championing Italian food at pivotal moments throughout history. Lavishly illustrated with material from the archives of the Bodleian Library and elsewhere, this sumptuous book also includes Italian regional recipes that have come down to us through the centuries, and celebrates the enduring international appeal of delicatessens, pizzerias, trattorias, and the Mediterranean diet.