5 Must Reads For Every Foodie And Book Lover!

Tender at the Bone:

Ruth Reichl opens her memoir with a story about her mother, “The Queen of Mold,” that is instantly relatable for anyone who is intimidated by the kitchen. This book takes you through her culinary awakening, from learning to cook at the elbow of her family’s maid, to her time spent in a commune in Berkeley in the 1970s; all the way to her time as a food critic for the New York Times.

The Man Who Ate Everything:

As the food critic for Vogue, Jeffrey Steingarten has tackled everything haute cuisine, with some hilarious results. He made it his mission to conquer his distaste for things he didn’t like — clams, kimchi, Greek food — and handles it with a humor and grace which makes this collection a pleasure to read. We could all learn a little something about stretching our palates from him.

Fresh Off The Boat:

Best known as the curmudgeonly braggart who founded Baohaus — and who has appeared on the most recent season of Top Chef — Eddie Huang delights in giving the establishment the finger and doing food and business his way. His story is a hilarious must-read about the Asian-American immigrant experience, and it is important for that reason alone.

Heat:

Bill Buford decides one day that he wants to learn how to cook, so he calls up his friend and Croc enthusiast Mario Batali, and starts from the bottom in the kitchen at Babbo. What follows is a harrowing, dramatic, and compellingly readable account of what it’s like to learn a new thing. We get the highs and lows of Buford’s culinary journey, interspersed with Mario Batali’s rise to culinary infamy.

Born Round:

The former restaurant critic of the New York Times takes us along on a journey through his eternal love-hate-love relationship with food, from his childhood eating a lot of pasta and yo-yo dieting with his mother through a brief flirtation with bulimia, all the way to his career as a professional critic and eater. Bruni’s story is relatable, and the rapturous descriptions of the stuffed pastas of his childhood will have you craving ricotta.