In Memory of Sam Fink

Sam Fink, a great American calligrapher and illustrator, died November 1st in Israel at the age of 95 surrounded by his family. Born on May 27, 1916, he was a national treasure. A multi-talented artist of inimitable range, he first learned to hand-letter from his father, sitting hour after hour practicing the craft before becoming a master calligrapher and illlustrator. After marrying his beloved wife Adelle in 1940, they raised two sons, David and Mace, while he studied at the National Academy and the Art Students’ League in New York. He served in Italy during the Second World War with the 88^th Infantry and came home a master sergeant. For two decades he worked as an art director at the world-renowned advertising agency Young & Rubicam, working in their London and Chicago offices although based primarily in New York. For the forty years after his retirement, he threw himself into publishing one book after the other. The subject was always freedom. For him, the greatest words on the subject lay in The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, The Book of Exodus and finally in Annie Dillard’s Give It All, Give It Now.

His first edition of The Constitution was published in pen & ink by Random House in 1987 where he was edited by the legendary editor Bob Loomis. Almost twenty years later, it was published in full lush color by Welcome Books with whom he worked continually thereafter. Encouraging teachers and parents to introduce Sam’s book to their children, Ian Crouch, reviewing for the New Yorker, said, “the book contains every word of the Constitution, written in Fink’s distinctive hand, along with boldly colored illustrations. Fink is at once reverent and mischievous. Throughout, we see his gentle but strongly-felt patriotism, along with flashes of humor.” Selected by American Compass, Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Guild, History Book Club, Military Book Club, heralded by Ray Bradbury who said it should be “in every home in America,” featured on NBC’S Sunday Weekend and CNN, The Constitution went on to be published in several formats. Folios from the Constitution Limited Edition went on permanent display at The Supreme Court in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2006.

The Book of Exodus followed swiftly as the watercolors were retrieved from Jerusalem. Originally conceived as a gift to his family, now living in Israel, a vast ocean away from his home in New York City, it, too, became available as both a book and a limited edition box of folios.

“The power of God is in the sky,” he told Brad Minor, editor of American Compass, about The Book of Exodus. “I made a vow to myself, ‘Sam, you will paint forty skies, one for each chapter of Exodus, and in the sky you will embroider the delicacy of the words in both English and Hebrew. The wisdom of the words and the beauty of the skies occupied me for some four years. Exodus is a cry for freedom, and that’s what it is all about. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘this nation shall have a new birth of freedom,’ which to me means freedom needs to be born anew in each generation, and I guess each generation has to earn it. For me, the freedom is in the work, to love the work. To this day, I love work, I enjoy it, and I’m free.”

In 2010 he was himself profiled in Thomas Sanders’ The Last Good War: The Faces and Voices of World War II. Sam’s last exhibition opened on May 15, 2011  at Temple Beth-El in Great Neck where he lived most of his life.

The words he most quoted in the last months of his life were Annie Dillard’s: “Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. “

He leaves behind his son David, daughter-in-law Miriam, seven grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren and countless friends all of whom have and treasure his famous lavishly illustrated letters.

A Little About Sweden

Is it possible that anywhere is more beautiful than Sweden, silly with wild flowers along the highways and hollyhocks thriving in the cobblestone streets of Lund.

Hollyhocks in Lund

I was there for my sister Monica (she was 88 on Monday — my father’s first daughter from his first marriage).

Me (Lena), Monica and Monica's daughter Helene

I drove from the Copenhagen airport to her wonderful house in Barsebecksham and she and I swam in the Oresund (one of the Danish straits separating Denmark and Sweden) at 11pm after her birthday dinner we prepared for 26 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren — (all beautiful, all speaking English (even the six year old), all doctors, social workers, lawyers) in what still felt like daylight alongside a pair of diffident swans.

Birthday table set with wildflowers from the highway[

We swam again in the mornings while a little cluster of 8 year olds, one to each little sailing boat,  made huge figure eights as part of their sailing school. So sweet, so blond, so consistently in crocs. Pheasants, deer, strange black birds everywhere and a little porcupine even crossed our path one night.

Sailing School in Barsebecksham

We saw a great Dubuffet exhibit in a museum (the only one I ever heard of) devoted to preparatory art (drawings, before paintings, models before sculpture) in Lund.

Dubuffet

Called The Museum of Sketches it has marvelous art by Matisse, Christo, Arp, Leger, Delaunay on permanent exhibit along with a great many Scandinavian artists not so well known outside of Sweden. Created by an art history professor in the 30’s who wanted to see “the birth of art”, I was completely enthralled. It reminded me of the class I took with Rudolf Arnheim at Sarah Lawrence when he showed us all the preliminary work Picasso did when working on Guernica (his staggering assault on Franco’s facism). You could just see his ideas sharpen and focus, not just his compositions as he worked on one drawing after the other.

Museum of Sketches

And, then there was the incredible gravlox Monica had prepared for my arrival and her birthday —  gravlox is salmon that has been cured using sugar, salt and dill. Her salmon came from Norway (450 rivers!). She always buys a cut from the middle of the fish, has it deboned and slit open in the middle where she puts a mixture of equal parts of sugar/salt and dill/salt/white pepper. The same mixture goes on the skin top and bottom. It sits out for a couple of hours and then in the fridge for two days, being turned in the morning and at night with a weight on top. We ate it all week. I urge you to try it!

Back in East Hampton for two days, back in the ocean, quiet like a lake, with a raspberry harvest out back that won’t quit.

Raspberries

Ready to go to work. In love with my Gay in America book (www.gayinamerica.us) —advances arrived just before I left. It is everything I publish for.

The Beach

–Lena Tabori, Publisher

Welcome Books Art Director at PhotoNOLA, New Orleans, LA. Dec. 3–5th

As art director of Welcome Books and because of my involvement in the photography community outside of that position I was invited by Kevin Longino to be part of a panel discussion on photography book publishing and a portfolio reviewer at PhotoNOLA in New Orleans this past weekend. It was my first experience doing reviews in such a manner, which I imagined was not unlike the experience of speed dating. You are turned on by some, turned off by others. But, you always strive to be courteous and, most importantly, honest.

Mary Virginia Swanson led the way during Friday’s panel discussion which followed her terrific presentation, “Publish Your Photography Book,” based on her upcoming book of the same title co-authored with Darius Himes. Simply put, to all photographers out there thinking about a book of their work, buy the book when it is available (due in February 2011 from Princeton Architectural Press ). It tells you everything you need to know from the perspectives of both photography and publishing. As an added bonus to the presentation, photographers Jackie Brenner and Dave Anderson talked about their own experiences in publishing recent books of their work. Jackie’s book, Friday Night Grind, was self-published while Dave’s recent book, One Block, was published by Schilt Publishing with Aperture signing on for the U.S. edition.

My colleagues on the Friday panel discussion included (in order of introduction) Maarten Schilt of Schilt Publishing in the Netherlands; Jennifer Thompson, Editorial Director at Princeton Architectural Press; Alexa Dilworth, Publishing Director/Editor at the Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University; and Melanie McWhorter, Books Division Manager at photo-eye .

For my part, I talked briefly about how Welcome Books works with photographers using Peter Feldstein’s The Oxford Project, Amy Arbus’ On The Street: 1980–1990, and Sean Perry’s Monolith as illustrations of three very different ways we have worked with photographers in shaping their work into book form. Though Monolith has not yet been published I included it as an example of how when we discover work with great potential (and that we love) but is not yet ready for publication (whether for artistic or business reasons) we sometimes will choose to work with the photographer to help develop its potential as a book, whether we end up publishing it ourselves or perhaps package it for someone else. I included visuals to illustrate each title and its development and was told by many that my presentation was really helpful for that reason. As the lone art director in the panel discussion and among the portfolio reviewers I figured I could distinguish what I had to say by really emphasizing the visual development process of a book’s conception and design. But during the presentation I was nervous as hell and thought I probably sounded like SpongeBob SquarePants after an all-night espresso bender.

I was fortunate enough to have my lovely wife Teresa join me in New Orleans so that night we had dinner at Cochon , which is featured in Welcome’s recent food book, Primal Cuts. Okay, that was about as much pork in one sitting as I have eaten in my entire life, but it was fantastic. Because we had included butcher/chef Donald Link in the book we were treated (without warning) to some things in addition to what we ordered. The challenge of eating it all was formidable but I think we did pretty well. We then took a walk through the French Quarter. All I can say is if that is what Bourbon Street looks like on any run of the mill Friday night during the year then I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like during Mardi Gras. Someone we know—and I won’t say who—described New Orleans as being like Disneyland for drunks. I want to clarify that that joke is aimed squarely at the people who visit New Orleans (whether on vacation or for college) and not at its residents, every one of whom I met was as gracious and sober as you will find anywhere.

Regrettably, our dinner at Cochon prevented us from attending Michael Kenna’s lecture that evening. But, we did make it to the reception at A Gallery for Fine Photography before dinner where Mr. Kenna’s work was featured along with displays of the work of Herman Leonard and Sebastiao Salgado.

Saturday and Sunday were spent reviewing the portfolios of the photographers, most of whom also attended the Friday “Focus on Publishing” event. I reviewed a total of twenty-four portfolios and the work was varied and interesting. The event was advertised with the reviewers’ names and affiliations listed, including their bios and a statement about what kinds of portfolios each was interested in seeing. As a result there was some logic to each reviewers list of photographers. As previously remarked, being the only dedicated art director/designer in the mix, most of the photographers I saw were looking for feedback on the potential of their work as a book. Each review lasted twenty minutes with ten minute breaks in between (which I was told, on more the one occasion, was a luxury not to be expected at such reviews conducted in other cities and so not to get used to it). The time went by quickly so it was not easy to go into any great depth about each person’s work. In general, much of the work was as yet incomplete or not focused enough, though much of it was beautiful and finely executed. These were all serious photographers with varying degrees of experience under their belts. I respected them all and admired their pursuit of something that is not easy to achieve. I liked some work more than others and I am choosing not to discuss specific photographers here because it would simply take too long as there were a number I feel would be worthy of mention for various reasons. Each reviewer was asked to rank their top three choices among the work they reviewed. The winner among all the reviewers’ choices would be given a show during next year’s PhotoNOLA. One of my choices ended up in the final top three but I cannot mention names at this point because the announcement of the winner has yet to be made by PhotoNOLA.

PhotoNOLA reviewers meet with photographers to discuss their work and offer feedback and advice. Photo © Samuel Portera.

In between the Saturday and Sunday review sessions Teresa and I went out to dinner again on Saturday night (Hey, we gotta eat, especially in New Orleans!). We were fortunate enough to get a table at John Besh’s August and it did not disappoint. My appetizer of Hand-made (Yukon Gold) Potato Gnocchi with Blue Crab and Winter Truffle was sublime. If I had been the type I could easily have said, “Hey waiter, bring me another!”. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind. It was a very different meal than the one at Cochon and just as satisfying, if not as filling. While we had no room at the end of our Cochon meal for dessert we did at August and ordered the Crème au Chocolat (a fancy way of saying chocolate pudding) and it was a nice way to end. The pudding on the cake, as it were.

Dinner was followed by a gallery crawl along Julia Street where it was nice to discover more of New Orleans-based photographer David Halliday’s work at Arthur Roger Gallery . If you do not know his images I would recommend specifically looking at his “Box Series” of sepia-toned silver prints. Then it was off to the PhotoNOLA Gala Benefit party where amidst the food, drink, music and conversation a number of prints were auctioned off to raise money for the New Orleans Photo Alliance . Also provided was a burlesque performance by Fleur de Tease which was roundly appreciated by all, despite a momentary wardrobe malfunction. In the case of a burlesque strip tease a malfunction is when the clothing stays on.

I ended up bidding on a David Halliday print because it was beautiful, but also to help bump the price up because many of the pieces were selling for far less than they were worth and I know how agonizing that is for those sponsoring the event given my involvement with the Friends of Friends Photography auction here in New York. You just can’t help but feel awful that photographers have generously donated their work of a certain value only to see it often sell for appreciably less. It helps a little to remind oneself that the photographers understand that this is the way things happen and that they are sincerely happy that their work brings in however much it does to benefit the cause. But the sting is always there for those of us who are involved in soliciting artists for donations and support because we want to protect the integrity of their work as well. We can never adequately express our gratitude to them not only for their generosity but for their understanding as well. Anyway, I digress. Ta daaa! I ended up winning the Halliday, a beautiful still life sepia-toned silver print, Camellia, 2009. There I am hoping to push the bidding up to at least somewhere near the estimate value and all of a sudden I am the only one raising my hand, and at a price still half of what it is worth. As the auctioneer indicated last call, once, twice, three times, I considered raising the bid on myself just for fun but the gavel was dropped (figuratively speaking in this case) and I found myself the proud new owner of a beautiful print. I should say Teresa found herself the proud new owner of a beautiful print since my bidding started with a glance of approval from her and because it was her birthday I thought it would be a nice present, in addition to the visit to New Orleans. Happy Birthday T.

David Halliday, Camellia, 2009. Photo © David Halliday.

After Sunday’s reviews I (along with Mary Virginia Swanson, Roy Flukinger, Senior Research Curator at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin; and Del Zogg, Collections Manager, Works on Paper & Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston ) was treated to a private walk-through by Dave Anderson of his show, One Block, at the beautiful Ogden Museum of Southern Art . Dave’s show was small in footprint but big in impact. Some fifty prints, many rather large format, were niftily installed into a modest size space. While the overall size of the room is relatively small the ceilings are high and allowed for a strong but sensitive installation of the images. In spite of all the photographic attention that has been paid to New Orleans after Katrina, this work is fresh and new. It is its own voice among the many and rises above most. It is also one of the most satisfying contemporary photography exhibits I have seen this year. It was a treat to have Dave talk about the scenes and people depicted in his work. And this was after hours so were all alone in the museum, which is a must-see if you visit New Orleans.

Dave Anderson talks with Mary Virginia Swanson as Del Zogg and Roy Flukinger examine Anderson’s show, One Block.

Opposing views across the central atrium of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

Since the reviews ended at an hour too late for most of the us to make flights to get home we were all invited to a dinner hosted by photographer Joséphine Sacabo . From there it was on to a one-night-only installation of the work of photographer Lori Vrba , who also happened to be one of the photographers whose work I reviewed earlier that day. She is represented by fellow reviewer and gallerist Jennifer Schwartz in Atlanta, GA. It was a one-of-a-kind installation, any description of which I might offer would not do it justice. The work was installed on the first floor of the partially restored historic Louise Arsene Vitry House in the legendary Treme neighborhood and it made me feel like I was in something like Grey Gardens. Lori is a very talented photographer and printer. She is all traditional all the way…from film to beautifully executed toned gelatin silver prints. The creativity of the installation was perfect for her work and a true reflection of her artistry and personality.

I really did love it and kicked myself for not bringing my camera. Fortunately, Jennifer Schwartz kindly shared some of her photos of the installation which capture the character and creativity of it all.

 

 

Installation of Lori Vrba’s Piano Farm. Photos courtesy of and © Jennifer Schwartz Gallery.

For more information about show itself you should read Jennifer’s blog . It is a fun read. Look back to her earlier blog, “Studio Visit with Lori Vrba,” to read about how the idea for the show started and some great shots of Lori’s darkroom and Emerson Farm, the location and inspiration for Lori’s Piano Farm work.

Faced with a 7:00am flight the next morning I had to take my leave at a decent hour to pack and get at least some sleep. That 7:00am thing was a mistake and I should have known better.

There are some projects that I intend to follow up on because the potential for a book is there. All in all, it was a terrific weekend with a lot of intelligent, creative, and fun individuals and I am grateful for the experience that the wonderful people—many of them talented artists in their own right—at PhotoNOLA provided. Among them: Jennifer Shaw; Vanessa Brown; Samuel Portera; and Millie Fuller.

— Greg Wakabayashi

On the road with Jessica Theroux in the Pacific Northwest

View Larger Map

Jessica Theroux is the author of an incredible new food book Cooking with Italian Grandmothers: Recipes and Stories from Tuscany to Italy, just named Best Italian Cookbook of 2010 by Publishers Weekly. It has been flying off the shelves of bookstores across the country. Chefs, food bloggers and home cooks from Coast-to-Coast are falling in love with this beautiful book – part travelogue, part cookbook and part photo essay.  I was lucky enough to spend five days on the road in the Pacific Northwest with Jessica. I traveled to Seattle and Portland in order to support Jessica and to experience the book in a completely new way.

Welcome to Seattle

Book tour lesson #1 – A book tour requires caffeine. Seattle and Portland are chock full o’ places to get your morning, afternoon and evening cup of coffee.  There are even a latte great places with organic options. Yum.

Our first stop in Seattle (after the requisite coffee at Odd Fellows www.oddfellowscafe.com ) was Elliott Bay Bookstore. This place is absolutely gorgeous. It feels massive and cozy all at the same time. You walk in and feel like you’re in a log cabin in the woods with every book you’ve ever dreamed of at your fingertips.

The events coordinator at Elliott Bay is Karen Maeda Allman and she was incredibly helpful to us and gave us everything we needed to sell books at our event.

Here’s Jessica with Karen Allman right before our tour of Elliott Bay Book Company. We loved seeing Cooking with Italian Grandmothers in the front window of the bookstore, right next to The Joy of Cooking.

Jessica signed books at bookstores in the area and we peeked into used bookstores like Mercer Books and Twice Sold Tales just to say hello and chat about her upcoming events.  Our next stop was Sitka and Spruce, one of the two restaurants owned by chef and restaurateur Matt Dillon. We ordered delicious chanterelles, lentils, & delicata squash, took them to go,  and made our way to our first event.  We arrived at the home of Myra Kohn (Seattle Bon Vivant http://twitter.com/bonnevivante), with boxes of books and started to prepare for the festivities.  We had been in Seattle for nearly 24 hours and still no rain. We thanked the grandmothers.

Myra Kohn’s event, Tastes and Tales, was terrific. Jessica and I arrived early so we would have time to bake paste di meliga with Myra.  These delicious Piedmontese cornmeal biscuits (p. 66) from the book were inspired by nonna Irene.  According to Jessica, “the traditional way to form the biscuits is to pipe the dough through a star-shaped pastry bag into a double S shape.  However, I also find them very appealing as chubby little coins.”

We were introduced to wonderful food writers, bloggers, chefs and food enthusiasts with varying degrees of experience with Italian food, but all very excited to hear about Jessica’s experiences with Italian food and especially her stories about the grandmothers.

Above: Chef Mike Easton from new Seattle hot spot, Lecosho (www.lecosho.com)

& Jessica holding a tray of her newly baked cornmeal cookies.

Jessica asked everyone to go around and talk about an elder that influenced his or her cooking.

The answers were intimate, surprising and authentic. One food writer said that she was not influenced by her own family, but instead was completely influenced by Asian grandmothers with whom she spent time during her years in Japan. In fact, it became quite obvious that many of these foodies were not taught by a family member, but instead went outside of their own families in order to garner culinary know-how. “I think every culture has their nonna character and sometimes their kids and grand-kids aren’t interested in their stories, but I am,” – Judy, a food writer based in Seattle. Some of these men and women were influenced at home and shared stories about their own grandmothers and mothers. We heard about the best latkas from one woman’s Jewish grandmother, meatballs from an Italian grandmother, there were recipes and stories from the kitchens of Persian grandmothers, Mexican grandmothers, Asian grandmothers and Portuguese grandmothers, just to name a few. I thought of my own grandma Sylvia’s matzah ball soup.

The room felt warm with the fire crackling. We drank tea and spoke of family, love, the importance of preserving food traditions and the wisdom of the elders in our neighborhoods, families and communities.  We ate and laughed and Jessica read aloud from Irene’s chapter of Cooking with Italian Grandmothers. We  sat in silence, a room full of chatty men and women who thrive on sharing; we were hushed by Irene. Our interest in the nonnas and Jessica’s experience was clear and palpable. We were people in love with food, cooking, sharing and stories, but the nonnas told us to listen and so we did. Listen to the food, to the individual ingredients and to each other.  As we listened, I scanned the faces of the people in the room.  We were all imagining the vivid scenes Jessica described, and the closer we listened the further we traveled with Jessica into Piemonte region of Italy and into Bra and into nonna Irene’s kitchen.

Book tour lesson #2 from nonna Irene and Jessica:

“To understand something,  you must look at it’s roots” – Irene, Cooking with Italian Grandmothers

To understand the nature of something, you have to understand how it was born.”

- Jessica describing what she learned from Irene

 

After Jessica read there was a Q&A. A few of the questions posed: “What was the most surprising ingredient used in the book?” ” What was the most memorable moment?” “What made you choose Italy?”

“Do you still keep in touch with the grandmothers?”

Jessica signed and chatted with Tara Weaver of Teaandcookies.blogspot.com, Luuvu Hoang, a local cinematographer, Lisa Garza of glutenfreefoodies.blogspot.com and many about 20 other food writers, but before we knew it we were packing up and bidding Myra and her husband farewell.

Next stop: The Mark Restaurant in Olympia, WA

Book tour lesson #3 –

When planning events remember to consider what day and time you are leaving one event to get to another, so as to avoid leaving when there is traffic. However, if planning events in Seattle, forget about the first part of this lesson and just assume there will be traffic. Always. At any time of day. Everywhere in Seattle.

We were going to Olympia for a special dinner at one of the restaurants that Welcome Books invited to take part in “A Slow Taste of Italy,” a culinary event wherein we asked chefs from NYC to Napa Valley who source locally, use sustainable practices and focus on Italian cuisine to host special dinners (and a few brunches) at their restaurants in celebration of the farm-to-fork movement and Cooking with Italian Grandmothers. On Jessica’s book tour she was able to attend many of these dinners, and on the this particular portion of her book tour there were four of these events. Tonight we were heading to the Mark Restaurant in Olympia, WA.

Welcome to Olympia, WA. Home of the Olympian newspaper, Evergreen State College, an incredible view of the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains, and the fantastic Mark Olympia Restaurant

owned and run by Lisa Owen.

Orca books was the bookseller at this event and Jon came to do the selling and to chat with Jessica about the book…

Above: Jon from Orca Books

…along with the wonderful people from Olympia who came out to the event.  Jessica and I moved around to the different tables and spoke with incredible people, many of whom had been to Italy or still had relatives there.

We met one particular group who were all neighbors in Olympia and had recently taken a trip to Italy together. These people were literally buzzing with excitement about Jessica and her journey. I watched as they pointed out pictures that reminded them of their travels and asked questions about this beautiful book, and all at once I remembered everything this book is about – love, connection, relationships, traditions and listening. It was finally the next stage of the life of this book. It was out there in the world.  These were the people we were thinking about at every stage of the process. These were the home cooks who create and cherish community, friendship and food. These people understood. They felt all of these things when they were in Italy themselves and create it here at home.  Now they would be able to bring the grandmothers into their own kitchens and cook by the side of these cherished nonnas. Jessica had given them a wonderful gift  - a tome of wisdom brought to them from the “keepers of the craft, ” as Ms. Theroux liked to say.  She would sign each book with the fortune of the nonnas – “May you eat and love with great pleasure.” It was with great pleasure that I watched Jessica pass along her treasured stories, recipes, photographs and lessons from Italy to the people she had hoped to share it with all along.

Above: Chef Lisa Owen of the Mark Olympia and Jessica

A proud new owner of Cooking with Italian Grandmothers

Jessica signed  books and told stories about her journey to Italy.

Lisa Owen was incredible. The food was inspired by the book and the dishes were completely organic. Almost every ingredient Lisa uses is 100% certified organic.  The three of us ate dinner after everyone left the restaurant and Lisa surprised us at the end of the meal with flourless chocolate cake.

We stayed the night in a beautiful house that a friend of Lisa’s rents out  called the Lighthouse Bungalow.  We woke up on the Puget Sound with a view of the snow capped mountains.

We jumped into the car (literally – it was freezing!) and made our way back to Seattle for the U-District Farmers Market with Chris Curtis, Founder of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance. I was told that this particular market is one of the top 10 in the country. It was certainly one of the best markets I have ever visited. Any market with fresh oysters, truffles, varieties of mushrooms, rose petal preserves, pumpkin butter and gluten free doughnuts in addition to tables upon tables of fresh, organic vegetables, is always a hit in my book. Jessica signed books and after we had sold nearly all of the copies that University Bookstore had brought to the market, we went over to the University Bookstore to peek around.

Above: Jessica and Chris Curtis, Founder of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance

Book tour lesson #4 – You haven’t really experienced a city until you’ve seen its markets. To experience Seattle you need to taste the oysters and truffles and according to Jessica, you’ll probably want to try the gluten free doughnuts.

A few hours later we were ready for a coffee from Stumptown and our event at Enza Cucina Siciliana. Ronald Holden, a well-known food writer for cornichon.com greeted us and made us feel welcome. Ronald and I had planned this event and it was great to see it come into fruition. The tables at Enza were filled about an hour after our arrival and I sat and chatted with a chemist and a naturopathic doctor who traveled in Italy and loved Calabria and Sicily. Enza served four courses and there were two choices per course.  The most interesting dish, inspired by nonna Maddelena’s chapter from the book, was the caponata di melanzane. There were many differences between Jessica Theroux’s dish and Mama Enza’s dish, the most striking being Mama Enza’s use of chocolate chips in place of Jessica’s 1/4 cup of orange juice.  This made for many conversations about the nuances of Italian cooking.

After delicious wine and great conversation we went home to get a good night sleep.  The next morning we would be heading to The Corson Building in Seattle for brunch.

The Corson Building is an incredible Spanish revival building that stands just underneath a highway overpass in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.  Do to it’s location one can’t help but notice the urban location, but the moment you step on the property, with a small farm to the left and a quaint patio with vegetables and gardens to the right, you can’t help but feel like you are in the countryside in 19th century Europe, and this century-old building adds to the appeal and the rustic aesthetic. The building was built in 1910 and is one of a few structures in Seattle known as, “Spanish Eclectic.” Matt Dillon is the mastermind behind this operation, and Emily Crawford was the chef for our Sunday brunch at The Corson Building. Emily recreated many of Jessica’s dishes from the book. They source locally and seasonally and their main focus is creating community around food. They don’t just make a point of knowing their farmer, but they know and often eat dinner with their foragers, wine makers, fishermen, builders, artists and local activities.  Just like Jessica and her nonnas, Matt Dillon, Emily Crawford, and the staff of the Corson Building celebrate the way food, when prepared with fresh, local and sustainable ingredients, works to create and nourish communities.

Chef Emily Crawford did an incredible job preparing for this brunch. She labeled each dish with the name, the grandmother who inspired the dish and the page number and the food was entirely delicious.

The fabulous chefs of the Corson Building!

La Miascia (Bread and milk cake with pears and dried plums) p. 54

Bagna Cauda (Piedmontese warm garlic-anchovy dip) p. 69

Chef Emily Crawford preparing brunch

I was amazed at the chicken soup with a poached egg and herbs (p.159) , the gnocchi di semola (p.70) and the polpette di bietola e marmellata di cipolla rossa or the chard-sesame balls and red onion jam (p. 290).

It was great to meet Matt Dillon and hear about some of his favorite restaurants and  memories from his own travels.

Jessica and Matt Dillon, Owner of The Corson Building

Book tour lesson #5 – When traveling in Europe remember to stop at Rene Redzepi’s NOMA. With Sitka and Spruce and The Corson Building under his belt, Matt Dillon’s restaurant recommendations are something I’m taking very seriously.

Next stop: Portland, OR

Book tour lesson #6 – Your first stop in Portland, OR must always be Powell’s Books. No exceptions. It’s a mile of books, people. An entire city block.

Jessica in front of Powell’s Books

It was Monday, December 6 and we were gearing up for Jessica’s final event at Nostrana. We received a call letting us know that there were 110 reservations. We dropped Jessica off at a friend’s house to get ready and I went out to get us coffee. We arrived at Nostrana around 5pm and Jessica spoke to the waitstaff about the book. Everyone was leafing through the pages and telling us what dish they had tasted already. Nostrana is chef Cathy Whims’ restaurant.  Cathy joined us for dinner later that evening and we had champagne to celebrate.  Robert Reynolds, the owner of Robert Reynolds Chefs Studio was there for the event as well (http://thechefstudio.com/CookingSchool/)

Cathy chose to offer what she called The Italian Grandmother’s Dinner, which included three courses from the book. The first course was the polpetta of chard & sesame, red onion jam.  The second course was the beef involtini di Milano, Ayers Creek polenta & warm cream, gorgonzola and for desert there was the roasted apples with hazelnuts, bittersweet chocolate and lemon zest.

Book tour lesson #8 – Every great meal deserves at least a taste of a great dessert to be complete. Needless to say with Cathy’s version of Jessica’s roasted apples, we couldn’t stop at just a taste.

Every table was filled in the restaurant and the energy was palpable.  People were coming up to the table and telling us stories about incredible trips to Italy and  a few interesting stories about Italian cooking classes. Everyone wanted a book and I saw one table with their Christmas lists out on the table.

Book tour lesson # 9 – Great local bookstores come in handy when you run out of books during an event. It’s also important to remember to keep your author hydrated and fed when she is signing more than 8 books per person because the customers want to give her book to everyone their Christmas lists. Thank you, Powell’s and thank you, Nostrana!

Book tour lesson #10 – If at all possible, try to stay with friends or locals when you’re on book tour. It might sound appealing to stay in a hotel, but the best nights in Seattle and Portland were with friends and locals who were supporting us and energizing us throughout our travels. Jessica and I tried to stay with people who knew the cities and were willing to be our guides and it made all the difference.

For more information about Jessica’s upcoming events please visit

www.cookingwithitaliangrandmothers.com

In bocca al lupo,

Emily Green

Assistant to Lena Tabori, Publisher

Welcome Books

Jessica Theroux on “Cooking with Emeril”

Jessica Theroux, author of Cooking with Italian Grandmothers, sends this photo from her appearance on Emeril Lagasse’s radio show, “Cooking with Emeril.” It aired at 2pm ET on Martha Stewart Living Radio today.  Cute!  We hope you had a chance to listen!

The Last Good War – Tour Blog!

“There is nothing better for the book tour jitters than having the first event take place at West Point’s history department. Our moderator, Todd Brewster, is the current director of the Center for Oral History at the Academy. Prior to this, he was a political journalist for Time and ABC News. He co-authored The Century and In Search of America with Peter Jennings. I will admit that I was intimidated by Mr. Brewster’s background. I suppose I expected to be grilled.

But then there’s something about the way the wind whips around the castle like structure of West Point that proved to be invigorating. That combined with Mr. Brewster’s cordiality made Tom and I feel, well, special…”

Follow Thomas Sanders and Veronica Kavass on their national tour, as they blog their experiences on the road.  Read the rest of this entry and follow along at:  www.lastgoodwar.blogspot.com

Finally!

Can you find it?

I went into Barnes and Noble last night and I found THE LAST GOOD WAR: THE FACES AND VOICES OF WWII in the “NEW” section. It feels so good to see it in a bookstore. SO GOOD.

–Thomas Sanders

Cross posted from Thomas Sanders’ blog

Twitter Giveaway!

Announcing Welcome’s first Twitter giveaway!

In honor of Constitution Day, we want to hear what our founding document means to you – tweet about the article or amendment most significant to you, what constitutional issue you’re most concerned about today, or post a twitpic of yourself engaged in a constitutional activity. Include the hashtag #welcomebooks, and we’ll randomly select three winners to receive a copy of the newly published trade edition of Sam Fink’s stunning Constitution of the United States!

Check out the book here!

All tweets must be posted between Monday, September 20, 2010 at 3pm ET and Friday, September 24, 2010 at 3pm ET. The winners will be notified via Direct Message and will have until Monday, September 27, 2010 at 11am ET to respond.

A Taste of Eataly

Eataly, a new gourmet Italian market, opened up today a few blocks from Welcome Books’ office. We took a stroll over to see what delicacies were available, what snacks were to be had, and if Mike Bloomberg was still there, stuffing his face with pizza!

Lets begin: The entrance is on the scale of the Coliseum or the Vatican…

This is a monumental grocery trip…

Genevieve demonstrates how to use the futuristic grocery baskets. It doesn’t exactly scream out “rustic italian market,” but is definitely ergonomic and lightweight.

There is a lovely produce section… though you’ll forget about all this green stuff once you move into the rest of the store — literally mountains of meat, cheese, and pasta EVERYWHERE!

We’ve done a lot of work with butchers, but I’ve yet to hear of a “veggie butcher.” Apparently, there is a “veggie butcher” here! He preps your veggies, which is good if you become squeamish about chopping up baby bell peppers.

Anyway. Lets get to the meat of it.

Books! A great little selection of all the newest and prettiest cookbooks and food literature out today. Hey, whats that down there?

There is so much Italian beer that you have never heard of. Forgive me, I forgot to check the wine aisle, but I’m a beer guy.

Check the pasta aisle(s). So. Much. Pasta.

…seriously. And it looks amazing. Hand made…fresh…

…after a taste of the Gelato we pushed passed the swarms of press and foodies, and headed back to the office. Ciao Eataly!

—Zach Hewitt, Welcome illustrator

Alice’s Favorite Recipes from PRIMAL CUTS

Tastes obviously are personal and mine are the product of my Chinese upbringing. Texture is as loved as flavor by the Chinese…it is why simmered chicken feet, tripe, and gelatinous pig’s feet are popular. Nothing bores me more than chicken breast, no matter how well cooked and sauced. I tested and tasted many recipes in PRIMAL CUTS and served to extended family and friends over the course of a few months. My diners raved about MANY recipes but here are MY top three personal picks:

Head Chef, Matt Palmerlee’s Pork Belly Confit:
from Olivia Sargeant of Farm 255

I’ve never made confit. The length of time required was daunting, especially compared to my usual quick stir-frying dishes. But it actually couldn’t be easier and more convenient. The pork belly gently simmers in pork fat for hours but you do chores and ignore it while it does. Then it can be quickly heated up to make the exterior slightly crispy before serving. The combination of crispy skin, melting layer of fat, and firm meat on bottom in one perfect bite….yummm. The confit can be refrigerated and kept for weeks, if it lasts that long. I prepared it in advance to take it out to my in-laws for the weekend, but I will confess I cut pieces out several times over the week and fried it up. It literally called out to me repeatedly…I would be reading in bed thinking…hmmm maybe a midnight snack? I am sure how convenient it is to prepare in advance and how quickly it is cooked up before serving is why so many restaurants have it on their menu nowadays. (Another reason being the whole animal interest.) I actually ordered it at a trendy, fancy restaurant this weekend and the one I made was infinitely better. I think it was the pork belly I started with…purchased from Tom Mylan’s Meathook (he’s profiled in PRIMAL CUTS). MY pork belly confit had the perfect proportion of skin, fat, and meat. Start with a good piece of meat!

Jason Barwikowski’s Chicken Liver with Bacon Ragu:

I remember the pleading look from Juno, my miniature schnauzer, as I cooked up this dish. The dish smells and looks so good cooking up…it is almost enough of a sensory experience before you take a bite. Not knowing what to expect, I chose the pasta option rather than serving it on crusty bread. You should do the bread the first time you make this dish. I guarantee you will be standing over the skillet, torn pieces of bread in your hands, repeatedly scooping up the ragu. The rich paste of the chicker liver, salty firmness of the bacon, touch of savory sweetness of the tomato paste, gentle kick of the balsamic vinegar….food porn. Pour yourself a glass of red and live a little.

Berlin Reed’s Tea and Plum Roasted Rack of Lamb:

My father-in-law makes great lamb chops, simply marinated with a bit of olive oil and rosemary from his garden. I love lamb chops…they are relatively small and I usually cut off a lot of the meat for my kids and wind up happily working away at the tasty and grisly meat near the bones. I was little skeptical about the need to do anything more to the already flavorful lamb, until I tried Berlin’s recipe. The lamb marinates for a few hours in earl grey tea and five spice powder and is glazed with plum chutney while roasting. The result is something with more depth and interest. You have a layer of subtle sweet chutney before a hint of elegant Earl Grey before you reach the lamb-y goodness. As usual, I cut a lot of the meat off the chops for the kids and hoarded a plate full of the meaty bones for myself. Juno was insanely jealous.

—Alice Wong, Welcome Books Project Manager