Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship, with Recipes

by Amanda Hesser

Overview

"Tender, wry, passionate, truthful. To read Hesser's prose is to hunger for more."—Nigella Lawson

Life in the city, love, and unforgettable meals—can a food writer find happiness with a man who has an empty refrigerator? Amanda Hesser's irresistible book is the tale of a romance where food is the source of discovery, discord, and delight—a story of universal desires: good food, great company, and a mate.

At each stage of her courtship—from her first date with "Mr. Latte" (a near-disaster) to her first uneasy dinner at his parents' home, from intimate suppers in her Upper West Side apartment to his first attempt at cooking for her—Amanda supplies menus for the meals they share: more than one hundred well-balanced and well-seasoned recipes that will leave you satisfied yet wanting more.

With warmth and honesty, Amanda shares her feasts and foibles, triumphs and near-misses, tense encounters and good times in the kitchen and beyond. Her humorous, sensuous tale leads us date by date, recipe by recipe, to a jubilant conclusion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393325591
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/17/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	338
Sales rank:	303,420
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Amanda Hesser is the founder and executive chair of Food52, which also encompasses the heritage brands Schoolhouse and Dansk, as well as a former New York Times food editor and the author of the bestselling and James Beard Award–winning Essential New York Times Cookbook. She lives in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	9
	Introduction	13
1	First Date	17
2	Mr. Latte Has a Trick Up His Sleeve	24
3	His Turn	32
4	Cooking with Julia	38
5	Foodies' Face-Off	48
6	The Art of Dining Alone	57
7	A Tough Act to Follow	64
8	The Rooftop Party	72
9	The Man Who Made Me Eat Everything	79
10	Letting Go	84
11	A Safe Place	91
12	About Town with the Bon Vivant	98
13	Show Me, Don't Tell Me	105
14	Dinner When No One Wanted to Be Alone	113
15	Sunday Ritual	119
16	A Visitor from India	126
17	Peeling Away the Past	135
18	Hard Thoughts Soften over Dinner	143
19	When in Rome, Eat Oxtail Stew!	150
20	Heidi Saves the Day	157
21	A Reason to Cook	164
22	Commitment Issues	172
23	Dropping By	180
24	A Few or a Dozen Favorites	190
25	The Engagement Party	205
26	Fine Dining in the Sky	214
27	The Not-So-Secret Tapas Bar	221
28	Eastern Shore Interlude	229
29	Changing Places	238
30	Chez Who?	248
31	Momentary Lapses	257
32	Must Intervene	264
33	Guests in Our Own Home	272
34	Single Cuisine	285
35	Cooking, on Schedule	294
36	The Tart that Took a Year to Bake	305
37	And So to Wed	314
	Index	325
	Index to Recipes	330

Editorial Reviews

"A totally lovable book, a kind of Bridget Jones for foodies."

Epicurious.com - Irene Sax

"A reach as wide as Emeril Lagasse, sex appeal on par with that of TV-chef-cum-temptress Nigella Lawson, and a literary voice likened to that of M. F. K. Fisher."

Boston Phoenix - Nina Willdorf

"In a category all its own...weaves inviting recipes into delightful first-person prose. [Hesser] is abundantly talented."

Christian Science Monitor - John Edward King

"Charming and smart."

New York Times Book Review

A reach as wide as Emeril Lagasse, sex appeal on par with that of TV-chef-cum-temptress Nigella Lawson, and a literary voice likened to that of M. F. K. Fisher.--Nina Willdorf "Boston Phoenix"

A totally lovable book, a kind of Bridget Jones for foodies.--Irene Sax "Epicurious.com"

Charming and smart.-- "New York Times Book Review"

In a category all its own...weaves inviting recipes into delightful first-person prose. [Hesser] is abundantly talented.--John Edward King "Christian Science Monitor"

From the Publisher