Congratulations to Randall Grahm and David Kinch, two big winners at the James Beard Foundation Awards—the Oscars of the foodie world!
Grahm, “the Willy Wonka of the wine world” and founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, won Best Beverage Book for Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology. We were delighted to celebrate the launch of this book when Randall stopped by in September for an entertaining book talk and signing, and delicious wine sampling.
Kinch, owner of Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos, was declared Best Chef: Pacific. Those of us who have had the pleasure of dining at Manresa enthusiastically concur. Also, David is a super nice guy. Shouldn’t there be an award for that, too?!
by S.B. on May 1, 2010
I have hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks bursting my shelves at home and often feel guilty that I can’t spend as much time with each of them as I’d like. (Is that odd?) So it feels good when I’m able to devote myself to trying out several recipes from one book. Lately, and quite unexpectedly, I’ve had some quality alone time with Baking by Dorie Greenspan. I had baked from it before and knew that it was good—but, heavens, I didn’t know it was that good! An Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart, Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake, Tart Noire, and batch of World Peace Cookies later, and I am hooked. It’s love. If you like to bake, don’t miss this classic—which, incidentally, was just included in the James Beard Foundation’s list of all-time essential baking books.
—S.B.
