If you, like me, are drawn to books that incorporate personal anecdotes, food descriptions and literary references, I offer you these personally vetted food memoirs.
Voracious by butcher and food writer Cara Nicoletti spawned from her literary supper (book) club with friends. It offers well-crafted stories about literary food scenes from Nicoletti's impressive reading lists since childhood. Her tasty recipes will leave you craving jelly donuts, salted chocolate caramel and brown butter crepes.
Life Is Meals is a beautifully illustrated book of days by award-winning author James Salter and wife Kay Salter. Although not exactly a food memoir, it includes recollections of dinner parties and charming stories with recipes, historical notes and tips for hosts. This book is a perfect companion for food lovers who will either relish it in one sitting or savor the stories one at a time.
Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir Blood, Bones, & Butter is one of my favorites. Her evocative writing reveals her journey through kitchens that started with elaborate parties of her childhood leading to the successful opening of her acclaimed restaurant in Manhattan, Prune.
In Delancey, Molly Wizenberg opens a new pizzeria with her perfectionist, musician husband. Her uplifting narrative, peppered with details like the search for the perfect dough, construction of the space and installation of a wood-burning oven, chronicles the struggles and triumph of opening a restaurant. Like her previous book A Homemade Life, Wizenberg combines recipes with engaging stories.
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