Blog of award-winning authors
ANDREW DORNENBURG & KAREN PAGE
2012
Named one of GourmetFood.About.com's "Top 10 Food Blogs"
Named one of The Fifty Best Links for Epicureans
Named to MUG 400 for "distinctive contribution to life in New York"
"Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page monitor the pulse of the food world like nobody's business. There's a fantastic database of restaurant reviews, too." — Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma
"Page and Dornenburg also writeone of the most informative and engaging food/wine blogs on the planet. Check it out." — Bestselling author Michael Gelb
"If you asked me what I came into this world to do,
I will tell you: I came to live out loud."
— Critic and novelist Emile Zola (1840-1902)
"There is nothing under the sun better for man than to eat, drink, and be merry. Go, therefore, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with cheer.” — Ecclesiastes 8:15
"Who to follow: @WhatToDrinkBook: Authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page obsess over food and wine." —Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits magazine (Fall 2009)
Mashable
"Tasty Tweets: 55+ Foodies to Follow on Twitter....@KarenAndAndrew — Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg are the authors of numerous books, most recently THE FLAVOR BIBLE, winner of the 2009 James Beard Award. Their tweets talk about their books, food commentary, and interesting links." —Cameron Chapman, Mashable.com (August 13, 2009)
"9 Famous Foodies to Follow on Twitter. Hungry for some tasty tweets? The culinary community is sweeping the Twittersphere, and now you can keep up with some of the biggest names in the biz just by clicking the 'follow' button on Twitter. Here are some faves... @KarenAndAndrew: You heard of THE FLAVOR BIBLE?Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg wrote the book." —Michele Laudig, Phoenix New Times (July 10, 2009)
Sit-down tasting of Chateau d'Issan vintages: 2001-2009
Le Bernardin's Olive Oil-Poached Escolar with
Red Wine Béarnaise & 2000 Château d'Issan
"Château d'Issan, like all great Médocs, lies on the 'Right Bank' of the Route des Châteaux, at the entrance of the village of Cantenac, right after such prestigious châteaux as Margaux, its illustrious neighbour, Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande, as well as Latour..." —Château d'Issan brochure
Thursday, January 26, 2012 — When we received an invitation to Monday's wine tasting and lunch hosted by noted Bordeaux producer Château d'Issan, the last place we'd expected it to be taking place was a seafood-themed restaurant like Le Bernardin.
We typically order white wine to accompany chef Eric Ripert's unparalleled seafood dishes, with our favorite new white discovered during our last dinner at the restaurant (celebrating Andrew's birthday in December) being sommelier Aldo Sohm's own spectacularly soulful Austrian Gruner Veltliner.
So while we were curious to taste these Margaux wines (a curiosity evidently shared by virually every leading wine writer on the East Coast, based on the composition of the room) — both the Château d'Issan (made from 35-year-old vines, on average), and its second-label Blason d'Issan wines (made from vines averaging half their age, and typically sold for half their price) — we were also curious to see what this vaunted kitchen would produce to pair with these Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blends.
We were blown away by the olive oil-poached escolar with a red wine béarnaise that accompanied the 2000 vintage, not to mention the pairing of the two together, which worked beautifully: The wine in the sauce served as a bridge to the wine in the glass, with the wine's balanced acidity the perfect counterpoint to the richness of the fish, and we could not have imagined such a heavenly match for this elegant wine.
We can honestly say that we've never ordered lamb before at Le Bernardin — but we'd order this perfectly-cooked rack of lamb again in a heartbeat to accompany the 1995 vintage (whose earthu notes were brought out by the lamb). Kudos, too, to the affinage of the extraordinary cheeses that accompanied the 1983 vintage (whose evident age reminded Karen just how many years had passed since her college graduation). We emphasize the excellence of the food because this was a definitely a case of the pairings helping to show the excellence of the wines to their full glory.
We wish the nine wines we tasted during the sit-down vertical tasting of the 2001 to 2009 vintages had had the same advantage. Their blends ranged from 60 percent to a whopping 78 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and at just a few years to less than a dozen years in age, they were mostly wines still before their prime that — like any wine — would have benefited from a great food pairing.
Andrew brought his glass of 2004 (his favorite, and a favorite of Karen's; at $65, it represents an underrated value among the wines we tasted) from the sit-down tasting to the lunch, where it continued to open up over the next 90 minutes and showed beautifully with the food.
The famed 2005 vintage is priced at $100 (as is the lovely 2000 we tasted with the escolar), while the other vintages ranged in price from $57 to $75. What accounts for the difference? Supply and demand — which is affected by both personal taste and, notably, the influence of certain wine critics.
Our genial host Emmanuel Cruse (grandson of his namesake who originally bought the estate in 1945) pointed out that in Bordeaux, Pauillac and St. Estephe are typically more powerful than Margaux, which is about balance and elegance. Indeed, our other favorite vintages (such as the 2006, $75) were those that expressed those latter traits more than the former.
Château d'Issan
Tasting and Luncheon
Hosted by Emmanuel Cruse
January 23, 2012
Le Bernardin
New York City
Menu
Olive Oil-Poached Escolar
Red Wine Béarnaise Château d'Issan 2000
Pistachio-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Grilled Spiced Eggplant, Jus Château d'Issan 1995
Assorted Cheese:
Comté Saint Antoine, Roomano,
Tomme de Chevre Aydius Château d'Issan 1983
Sunday, January 22, 2012 — Now that the unseasonably balmy weather has passed and there's actual snow on the ground in Manhattan, we're keeping our apartment toasty warm by roasting chicken. It's a versatile entree for wine pairing, as it allows us to taste a broad range of wines with it.
Two wines that stood out during our most recent tasting were both sparkling wines from Argentina. The Reginato Torrontes Chardonnay ($17) sparkler was a winning match with the chicken, with the blend of 80% Chardonnay offering a classic pairing and 20% Torrontes adding a little something different — in this case, notes of flowers, peaches, and tangerines. This bubbly is made via the Charmat (tank) method (also used to make Italian prosecco).
The evening's most pleasant surprise was the sustainably produced 100% Pinot Noir Santa Julia Brut Rose ($9.95), which gives us a new way to answer our friends quizzing us for a wine we'd recommend under $10. This delightful bubbly is reminiscent of strawberry rhubarb pie in a glass!
Friday, January 20, 2012 — We're grateful to CBC Books for its feature today mentioning THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE as "the best wine guide of 2011." You can read the entire piece via the link here. We'd also like to congratulate Dr. Mehmet Oz on having his not-for-profit HealthCorps ("Educating American Youth and The Student Body") land Evamor as its official water sponsor — with a little help from his friend chef Rocco DiSpirito, who brought them together. You can read more about HealthCorps' mission to fight teen obesity here.
Thursday, January 19, 2012 — Our hearts are still pounding after seeing Kevin Spacey's opening night tour-de-force performance in "Richard III" at BAM last night from our front-row-center seats, which had a manic Spacey brandishing daggers and swords uncomfortably close to our faces. We're feeling the love for our generous hosts for including us in such an unforgettable evening (which included a pre-performance dinner where guests included Hugh Jackman) — thank you AJ and AG!
Lovers of Shakespeare should consider this "Richard III" as not-to-be-missed — even after loving Patrick Stewart in BAM's "Macbeth" and countless nights of Shakespeare in the Park, this was our favorite Shakespearean performance to date.
Catch "Richard III" through March 4th, and previews and ticket info online: http://www.bam.org.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 — Congratulating our friend Bill Bratton on his new book Collaborate or Perish!, which we celebrated over dinner last night with Bill and his wife Rikki Klieman (author of Fairy Tales Can Come True) after the discussion of the book led by CBS' John Miller with co-authors Bill Bratton and the Harvard Kennedy School's Zachary Tumin at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 — Congratulating 43 North Restaurant's sous chef and pastry chef Francesca Hong on being profiled in today's Wisconsin State Journal— and thanking her for the shout-out for CULINARY ARTISTRY as her favorite cookbook!
You can read Samara Kalk Derby's inteview with Francesca here.
"Brain Power is beautifully written, weaving together science, art, and history to provide the evidence and practical tools to enhance
your brain function so that you can have a brilliant life. Everyone should read this book." — Eva Selhub, MD, author of The Love Response and instructor at Harvard Medical School
Friday, January 13, 2012 — We've been assured that Karen's passport renewal is being expedited in time for our visit to Italy at the end of the month (whew!), so we're happy to take a moment to congratulate our bestselling author friend Michael Gelb on his new book with Kelly Howell called BRAIN POWER: Improve Your Mind as You Age (New World Library; Jan. '12).
Michael is, of course, the author of the international bestseller HOW TO THINK LIKE LEONARDO DA VINCI, so we can think of few people we'd trust as much to have the inside scoop on making our gray matter matter more with each approaching birthday. The good news, Gelb and Howell tell us, is that our brains are actually adaptable and dynamic and capable of generating new neurons and actually improving as we age. The authors provide tools designed to "rehab mental muscles, improve memory, boost concentration, and increase creativity as you age."
We can't think of a better investment you can make toward improving your brain function in 2012 than picking up a copy of BRAIN POWER and putting its insights to work for you. (P.S. The book also includes a downloadable Brain Sync Audio program to balance your brain and optimize mental performance, which we're looking forward to trying, too.)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 — Thanking Vancouver Sun restaurant critic Mia Stainsby, whose profile mentioning our new book THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE was featured in her online blog this week.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 — Saluting Brian Fence, a "recently-graduated bilingual Oxfordian with no money and no job" who does have a website called Pechism.org, which features a list of "Bao's Top 10 Must-Have, You-Need, Shut-Up-and-Get Cookbooks" worth reading.
Brian clearly has excellent taste in culinary literature. We wish him the best of luck with finding a job!
Monday, January 9, 2012 — After putting in a long, grueling (if pleasurable!) weekend of tasting and note-taking, we are happy to have finished a sweet wine pairing project: coming up with wine pairing recommendations for a series of chocolate desserts. We promise that you'll be hearing more about it in the weeks to come!
Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 9:35 am — The topic of tipping can be touchy. Both of us spent time waiting tables to help finance our college years (and to literally have a way to eat), so we have enormous compassion for our hard-working colleagues in the hospitality industry who depend on tips to earn their livings. And we're glad that Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema took on the topic in today's "Ask Tom" column in today's Sunday Magazine, which explores how much diners should tip on a pricey bottle of wine and paraphrases a brief deadline-driven email exchange we had last month.
And we'll share a direct quote from our email to Tom that didn't make it into today's piece: "...For excellent service we'd personally never dream of leaving less than 20% on anything we'd ordered in a restaurant — food OR wine." We hope you'll choose to do likewise.
*For example, California appears to be an exception to this rule — and the city of Philadelphia enacted new legislation just last month.
"One of our key missions when writing [THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE] was to help turn America's most common beverage with the evening meal from a soft drink (such as Coke) to wine — any wine. With a can of soda running around $1, a bottle of wine on this list [of 150 Wines Under $15] that contains five servings might cost a dollar or two more per serving — but can improve your quality of life immeasurably." —from p. 231 of THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 5:30 pm — Especially given our mission for writing THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, we were incredibly touched to receive this "fan email" from a reader today:
"Karen and Andrew,
I received your latest book for Christmas (the strong hints paid off).
I realize that it might be considered as a reference book, but I started at the beginning and have read it like a novel up to page 99, the start of the varietal list. Although I like to pick up a dictionary and just read words and their definitions for a while, I will not read about every varietal in sequence. I will page through the list reading the comments, sidebars and other non-list verbiage. And then I will peruse the list when I want information on specific varietals.
So far, it's all very fascinating to the point that after reading some nugget, such as the distinction between fruit and wood tannins, I will interrup [my wife], say 'Listen to this...', and read it to her. She is very patient with me at times.
Prior to reading WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, [she] and I were basically Two-Buck Chuck wine drinkers. We started branching out and now buy very little of that. And with what I'm learning from THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, I anticipate becoming even more knowledgeable about buying and ordering wine.
Thanks for a great guide to wine."
Knowing that our latest labor of love is starting to accomplish its mission is incredibly gratifying.
Even in these challenging economic times, wine is an affordable luxury for many, and we hope that more and more Americans will follow suit in availing themselves of its pleasures.
Friday afternoon wine tasting
at The Lodge at Woodloch
Chicken Fricassee at The Lodge at Woodloch
Hiking to the waterfalls in nearby Cliff Park
Enjoying the winter beauty of nature in Pennsylvania
Friday, January 6, 2012 — We are happy to have had the pleasure of ringing in the New Year at one of our favorite places on earth:The Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, Pennsylvania, which is just 90 miles from Manhattan. We teamed up with the Lodge's talented chef Peter Schott during last week's one-hour cooking demo, pairing wines to each of the three delicious dishes he demonstrated to the food- and wine-loving crowd:
Scallop Crudo with Avocado Puree and Pineapple, Cilantro Salad 2009 Laurenz Singing Gruner Veltliner
Chicken Fricassee with Roasted Carrots and Parsnips 2008 Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone
Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Gelato and Caramel Taylor-Fladgate 20-Year-Old Tawny Port
During the rest of our visit, we explored different facets of this extraordinary place — enjoying classes with its talented instructors (including Dorothy, who seamlessly segued from Karen's first-ever Zumba class into our joint Tai Chi class that was so poignant we were both choked up by its end), hiking the stunning vistas (with waterfalls!) nearby with Jessie and John, unlocking our chi with shiatsu massages from Kirin and Eileen, learning more about the healing power of herbs from Nathaniel, and unwinding at the end of the day to the beautiful cover songs of talented guitarist and vocalist John Curtin. We're always happy to be running into the most interesting people at the Lodge — from fellow food-and-wine lovers Alexandra and Edouardo, to fellow HBS alum Lisa Bleich and her husband David, to one of the stars of "Other Desert Cities" which we'd just seen and loved on Broadway the week before Christmas.
If you're in need of R&R this year (and who isn't?), we hope you'll look into a visit to The Lodge, which has been cited as one of the world's best destination spas by Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, Travel + Leisure, and other leading media.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 — We are grateful to be ending the year on such a high note: Tomorrow we're giving our last NPR interview of the year for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, which was recently named both a 2011 Gourmand Wine Book Award winnerand— based on EatYourBooks.com's compilation of the end-of-year "Best Of" lists from 195 media (including the Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Vancouver Sun, and Wall Street Journal) —The #1 Wine Book of 2011.
We wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and every good thing you wish for yourselves in 2012!
Sunday, December 18, 2011 — Karen wishes Andrew a very Happy Birthday today, and a very happy year ahead! Thanks to all of you who have been sending your birthday greetings to Andrew on Facebook — although the very beginnings of a winter cold seem to be trying to ruin his day, he's fighting it valiantly with hot tea and honey and extra sleep, and all your good wishes are helping, too!
"At the top of Stacy's list is WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EATby Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. Stop by space519 to pick up a copy for a friend or maybe even buy one to take home! This book has won multiple awards including 'Cookbook of the Year' Award by IACP in 2007 and is a great guide to pairing wine with your favorite foods." —FoodMafia.com
Sunday, December 11, 2011 — Loved seeing that Stacy Johnson, CEO of FoodMafia.com, cited WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT as her #1 holiday gift recommendation. Her recommendations appear in the Holiday Gift Guide put out by the 900 North Michigan Shops in Chicago, and you can stop by the second floor of 900 North Michigan Avenue (near the Christmas tree!) to see each recommended gift on display. Thank you, Stacy!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 — This morning we were happy to wake up to the news that THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE had won the 2011 Gourmand Wine Book Award - USA in the category of Matching Food and Drinks. The email informed us that "The winner in each country will compete against winners in the same category in other countries for The Best in the World. The results will be announced on March 6th at the annual Awards event. It will take place in Paris at the Folies Bergère, the world famous theatre, the evening before the Paris Cookbook Fair (March 7-11, 2012). Congratulations!"
We look forward to booking our trip to Paris!
Saturday, December 3, 2011 — We're missing all our new and old friends in Seattle and Vancouver, whom we had the pleasure of sharing such special times with this week on our book tour for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE. Still, we're happy to be home in New York City and sleeping in our own bed again — not to mention waking up to such extraordinary reviews of our new book in such publications as LA Weekly, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, San Francisco Chronicle, and more!
Monday, November 28, 2011 — Hoping you'll join us at our book tour events this week in Vancouver and Seattle, where we'll be discussing and signing copies of THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE in appropriately delicious settings! For details, contact Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks in Vancouver, or Kim Ricketts Book Events / Book Larder in Seattle. See you soon!
Our favorite balloon sculpture
The cotton candy was a crowd-pleaser!
Gramercy Tavern chef Mike Anthony and his family
"The best ham I've ever tasted" many swore this morning
The short ribs were the talk of the party this year!
Per Se's extraordinary view of the Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thursday, November 24, 2011 — Feeling thankful for everyone whose work has allowed us to enjoy such a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year —including the A-team at the restaurant Per Se who prepared and served such an extraordinary brunch on Thanksgiving morning.
We're also grateful to our friends for sharing such an incredible Thanksgiving dinner with us tonight at their home in Greenwich Village — we're happy to be bringing the wine plus the pies from Royer's Round Top Cafe (in Round Top, TX)!
Saturday, November 19, 2011 — Time travels at warp speed when you've got a new book out and are on tour with it, as we've been this week with THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE. We're thrilled that today it was named one of the five best wine books of 2011 by Lettie Teague in The Wall Street Journal:
By Lettie Teague
"There are hundreds of millions of wines in the world and seemingly as many types of wine books. There are texts for beginners, picture books of vineyards and wineries (and even winery dogs), innumerable guides to specific wine regions and even whole countries. There are memoirs and essays by wine importers and salesmen and critics and vast encyclopedias of every grape on the planet. There are even books that tell the history of the classification of wine. Here are my five picks of this year's varied best:
The Finest Wines of California by Stephen Brook (California, 320 pages, $34.95)
Gerald Asher'sA Vineyard in My Glass (California, 279 pages, $29.95)
THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE
by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
(Little, Brown, 336 pages, $35)
Saint Emilion by Beatrice Massenet (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 259 pages, $55)
"...The information inside THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE by Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg (Little, Brown, 336 pages, $35) is copious. There are timelines of memorable dates in food and wine (Chelsea Clinton's wedding is considered noteworthy as is her wine choice—Clinton Vineyards). There are calorie counts of common beverages, definitions of grape varietals and lots of insights about food and wine pairings and favorite dishes of sommeliers. The useful and interesting bits of information found in this lively reference make it suitable for wine beginners and food lovers alike."
(To read the entire article "Gift Guide: Best Wine Books"
by Wall Street Journal wine columnist Lettie Teague, click here.)
Welcome sign at The Pierre
Gloria Steinem, who emceed the first Power Lunch 25 years
ago,
with this year's Power Lunch emcee Paula Zahn
Citymeals-on-Wheels co-founder and chair Gael Greene
Honoree Marcia Stein, Gael Greene, and MC Paula Zahn
Brooke Shields gave a special reading along with Jan Maxwell
and Gretchen Mol
The fabulous Table 31 included Jennifer Baum, Cynthia Fuchs
Epstein, Dasha Epstein, Bill Fischer, Jennifer Hensley, Jennifer
Lim, Karen Page, Marie Wilson, and more
Dasha Epstein, Jennifer Lim, Karen Page, Jennifer Hensley
and Jennifer Baum at Table 31 where Jennifers clearly ruled!
Producer Dasha Epstein
and actress Jennifer Lim of the hit
"Chinglish" with Karen Page
Donna Zaccaro, her father John Zaccaro, and Karen Page
Author Laura Day with restaurateur Barbara Lazaroff
Outgoing Executive Director Marcia Stein with incoming
Executive Director Beth Shapiro
Muriel Fleischmann, Lisa Cohen and Myron Stein
Karen Page, Bill Deutsch, and Rita Jammet
Power Lunch attendees received copies of our new book THE
FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE in their gift bags
Karen Page
(Power) Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Francine
Farkas Sears, Georgette Farkas,
Laura Day, Karen
Page, and Barbara
Lazaroff
at The Pierre
Yesterday, Karen attended Citymeals-on-Wheels' 25th Annual Power Lunch for Women at The Pierre, which honored founding Executive Director Marcia Stein for 30 years of leadership and raised more than $1 million to feed New York's homebound elderly.
You can make a contribution to Citymeals-on-Wheels online in less than 5 minutes by clicking here. Know that 100% of your contribution will go toward the preparation and delivery of meals to the homebound elderly, and 0% will go toward administrative expenses.
Left: Danny Meyer & Karen Page at EMP
Right: Karen Page, Danny Meyer & Will Guidara at EMP
Saturday, November 12, 2011 — We were sad to toast the end of an era but happy to toast the beginning of a new one at Eleven Madison Park last night, along with the debut of Daniel Humm and Will Guidara's gorgeous new ELEVEN MADISON PARK COOKBOOK, which — like our own THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE— was published by Little, Brown. Congratulations to Michael Sand, the editor of both books!
Today, we're on our way to San Francisco on our book tour for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, which includes a book signing at Draeger's in San Mateo tomorrow, Sunday, November 13th, from 1:00 - 2:30 pm; as well as one at Omnivore Books in San Franciscoon Monday, November 14th, at 6:00 pm, and one at Book Passage at the Ferry Building on Tuesday, November 15th, at 6:00 pm. We hope to see you there!
Left: Andrew with our escort Bill Young outside Hot Doug's
Right: Karen with Doug Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's in Chicago
Left: The couple from the SuperDawg logo pose
Right: Bill Young snaps Andrew & Karen in "the pose"!
Special thanks to Bill Young, our exceptional author escort (and new friend!) in Chicago, who was our partner-in-crime on an unforgettable hot dog adventure that spanned a return visit to our personal favorite Hot Doug's (a must-visit when in Chicago!) to our first visit to Superdawg Drive-In, a Chicago classic since 1948.
Andrew on a break during the WCR Conference in Cambridge
Monday, November 7, 2011 — We were delighted to be a part of the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR) conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this weekend (just across the river from Karen's old stomping grounds at Harvard!). Today we're on our way to Denver, where we're doing a book signing for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE at The Tattered Cover tomorrow night, and then to Chicago, where we're doing one at the Union League Club on Wednesday night. Many thanks to Bill Daley of The Chicago Tribune and to Erica Bethe Levin of CheekyChicago.com for their posts today mentioning our Chicago event. Hope to have the pleasure of seeing you soon!
Friday, November 4, 2011 — Over the past several years, we've fallen in love with the dozens of wine experts we interviewed for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE. (As we were able to tell some of them the other day, we think of them as the "characters" in our book!) So it is a special pleasure to be able to introduce you to five of them in the brand-new book trailer that was created to let the world know THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE exists. Please click the "Play" arrow on the video and meet Heather Laiskonis of Aldea, Ron Millerof Solera (where all the luscious food was shot), Claire Paparazzo of Blue Hill, Raj Vaidya of Daniel, and Hristo Zisovski of Ai Fiori. You'll also love reading what they have to say in THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE!
Saturday, October 29, 2011 —It's a strange ebb and flow, this author business. We spend years with our heads down, researching and writing a new book, and then suddenly it's time to come out and play and tell the world that it exists. On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), we each come out very close to one another on the Extroversion/Introversion scale: right down the middle. That's probably the only way we're able to handle both the isolation that writing requires as well as the 180-degree turnaround of sociability that book promotion requires. With more than 100,000 new books published every year, we don't take it for granted that readers of our previous books are ever going to know about our latest book unless we personally find ways to let them know about it. So we're emerging from our years-long virtual "cocoon" to get ready to go out on the road to re-connect with our readers starting next week.
We're hoping we'll cross paths with you along the way. After all, our conversations with readers not only provide invaluable feedback regarding our current and previous books, but they also provide inspiration for our next books. We've always got a list of a dozen or so ideas for books we want to write, and we enjoy the opportunity to "take the temperature" of readers' readiness for various concepts. Our readers are always pleasantly surprising us with both openness and sophistication, and connecting inevitably leave us eager to get back to the cocoon to write our next book!
We'll be in Boston, Chicago, Denver, greater New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver over the coming weeks, and you can read about our planned book discussions and signings on our News and Events page here. Again, we'll hope to have the pleasure of seeing you along the way!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 —This week we salute 2011 Rising Star Pastry Chef Jenny McCoy of CRAFT, who asked us to serve as her "mentors" in bestowing her award last night at Bar Basque in New York City. We've long been calling Jenny a "rising star," so it was a pleasure to see that our opinion is obviously shared so widely!
Many thanks to those of you who congratulated us on the recent mentions of our books in the popular publications Manhattan User's Guide and The Daily Beast. In case you missed them, you can read them here:
"One of the finest in the business when it comes to modern British fare tells us what he’s loving right now: Mary Queen of Scots executive chef Chris Rendell grew up in Melbourne enjoying a hybrid cuisine comprised of dishes from his English father’s traditional British Isles favorites....[Beloved] Cookbook:The amazing one-stop resource for both the professional and home chef alike.THE FLAVOR BIBLEby Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg [is] one of the essential go-to cookbooks. The years they spent putting this together for chefs to have on hand is incredible. To find the depth of knowledge and experience in one place is amazing. It’s a book that will draw you in and you will find yourself using it as a reference no matter how much or how little experience you have in the kitchen." —TheDailyBeast.com (October 4, 2011)
"More Fall Books: Some major tomes coming down the pike:
What: THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE Who: Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg When: November 3 Why: The husband-and-wife team are among the most highly-esteemed authors in the food world and rightly so. As with their previous books, PaDorn breezily share copious amounts of good information about food and wine. Quality-of-life improvements are guaranteed." —Charlie Suisman, ManhattanUsersGuide.com
(October 4, 2011)
P.S. With our new book THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE about to hit bookstore shelves in a few short weeks, it's an overwhelmingly busy time for us right now. If we're belated in responding to your email or phone call, please feel free to follow up — it's nothing personal!
"The two most anticipated reference books are THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Little, Brown) and The Oxford Companion to Beer (Oxford Common Press)." —Paris Cookbook Fair newsletter (September 2011)
Saturday, September 24, 2011 —Our thanks to Edouard Cointreau and his colleagues behind the Paris Cookbook Fair for citing our forthcoming book (on November 3rd!) THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE as one of the fall's most anticipated reference books. The fact that the other book cited was The Oxford Companion to Beer suggests that this fall will have a stronger-than-usual focus on libations —and that wine and beer will yet again battle it out for consumers' affections.
Why do we believe that wine will prevail? After seventeen consecutive years of growth, the United States has just
become the number-one consumer of wine. However, the single largest segment of American wine drinkers categorize themselves as "overwhelmed" by the vast array of choices offered in wine stores, on supermarket shelves, and on restaurant wine lists.
In writing THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, we set out to simplify the subject for the sake of the "overwhelmed" among us, taking the perspective that if you love food, you know flavor — and you can master wine.
We're happy to celebrate wine as an all-American beverage that's a key part of our country's history and culture, and to provide an encyclopedic A-to-Z reference, profiling more than 250 wines by grape, region, weight, intensity, flavors, food pairings, notable producers, and more. Laced throughout are sidebars on finding wines you'll love based on the foods you love, plus insider tips like "Ten Secrets for Getting More Pleasure from Wine" and "150 Wines Under $15."
Best of all, in THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINEyou're guided by dozens of one-time aspiring chefs, urban planners and rock stars who, through twists of fate, followed their passion for wine and became some of America's best sommeliers at such restaurants as Blue Hill, CityZen, Daniel, Eleven Madison Park, the French Laundry, the Inn at Little Washington, Le Bernardin, Manresa, No. 9 Park, Per Se, and Spago. They share in the book's 352 pages their insider recommendations, including go-to wines for tough food-pairing challenges as well as favorite wine regions that yield the best values.
We think THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE is the ideal companion to our books The Flavor Bible and What to Drink with What You Eat— and a game-changing guide that promises to empower wine drinkers to usher in a new era of wine mastery and enjoyment for all.
Pre-order your copy of THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINEhere, or at your favorite bookstore near you.
2010 Cupcake Vineyards Shiraz at Lincoln restaurant in NYC
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 —Given our mission of encouraging more Americans to enjoy wine with their evening meal, we're even more optimistic when we discover lovely wines at price points accessible to a wide audience. Yesterday, we tasted a bunch of impressive Muscadet wines (from the Loire region of France) at John Dory that fit the bill, and today at Lincoln we were introduced to a national line of diverse wines targeting American 20- and 30-somethings as "an affordable luxury."
Cupcake Vineyards kicked off in 2008 (on the heels of America's cupcake craze) by selling 10,000 cases of Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, sales top a million cases — and Cupcake is still adding new wines to its $8-$14/bottle line-up, including typical versions of Malbec, Moscato d'Asti, Petite Sirah, Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Riesling (from the Mosel region of Germany as well as Washington state), and Shiraz. Given the brand addiction of many Millennials, it seems to be a smart strategy to bring them in with a cute name (who doesn't like Cupcakes?), deliver impressive quality and consistency for the price, and expand their allegiance across a wide variety of wine styles from around the world.
You can learn more about Cupcake wines and winemaker Adam Richardson at www.cupcakevineyards.com.
Thursday, September 8, 2011 — It's (almost) here! In just 8 short weeks from today, our latest labor of love THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE will hit bookstore shelves!Here's an insider's sneak peek at the book that's already been nicknamed "THE FLAVOR BIBLE for wine drinkers":
The book is based on our interviews with dozens of America's best sommeliers, including 2011 James Beard Award winner Belinda Chang (late of The Modern, and now of the Monkey Bar in NYC):
In addition to sommeliers' insider tips on mastering wine, you'll find flavor profiles of more than 250 different wines from around the world— from white to red, dry to sweet, flat to sparkling, classic to little-known — including fabulous-yet-still-underappreciated sherry:
Laced throughout are sidebars on finding wines you'll love based on the foods you love, plus insider tips like "Ten Secrets for Getting More Pleasure from Wine" and "150 Wines Under $15."
Don't miss out! You can pre-order your copy of THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE at better bookstores near you, or for just $22.40 now at www.amazon.com.
“The 10 Best Cookbooks in the World: Forbes magazine chose the 10 best cookbooks published over the past hundred years: Larousse Gastronomique (1938), Time-Life's The Good Cook (1978-1981), How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (1998), Jamie's Kitchen by Jamie Oliver (2003), On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee (1984), Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Sidzuo Tsuji (1980), How to Cook by Delia Smith (2001), The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden (1996), Seductions of Rice by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (1998), and THE FLAVOR BIBLE by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (2008).
By Lettie Teague
