Karen and Andrew on the beach in Florence, Oregon

_
Left: Andrew, Marche chef-owner Stephanie Pearl Kimmel,
Karen and Jessica Right: Andrew, Susan Bulkeley Butler,
Karen and Jane Eyre McDonald at a fundraising dinner for
the Eugene Hearing and Speech Center earlier this month

"...What I failed to mention in my post-prandial haze last night was just how amazing this event was. The energy in the room was electric, there were nothing but smiles — grins, even — on all of the faces I saw around me. The company was exquisite, Karen [Page] and Andrew [Dornenburg] are charming, engaging and very much passionate about the topic. It was, indeed, the culinary event of the summer here in Eugene."
—Jeffrey Morgenthaler, blogger/mixologist, JeffreyMorgenthaler.com
(August 7, 2008)

August 22, 2008

Dear Friends,

It's hard to believe we've already been married 18 years, as of this weekend. Our wedding was a happy blur of family, friends, food -- plus a flight to Quebec City and Montreal, where we ate our way through both cities before running the Montreal International Marathon together on the last day of our honeymoon!

As we celebrate our wedding anniversary, we're also grateful to have some other very happy news to celebrate, as we announced on our August 19th Blog:

On August 11th, Publishers Marketplace announced the exciting news that we have agreed to write our next book ON MASTERING WINE for our current publisher Little, Brown, again under talented editor Michael Sand, with whom we've teamed up for both our 2007 IACP "Cookbook of the Year" and Georges Duboeuf "Wine Book of the Year" WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT as well as our forthcoming book THE FLAVOR BIBLE: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs (Little, Brown; 380 pages; $35), which makes its debut September 16th.

With the publication of THE FLAVOR BIBLE, we'll be hitting the road on our book tour as of September 17th, with planned stops along both the West and East coasts (from Vancouver to Los Angeles, and from Boston to Washington, DC) as well as Chicago and Milwaukee.

Our upcoming travels coupled with the extensive research our next book will entail would make it a suicide mission to continue to write a weekly column on top of that. So, we have agreed to contribute a monthly column to The Washington Post. A new wine columnist penning three or four columns a month is due to begin at the Post as of October 1st. Knowing all too intimately the demands posed by a weekly column, we wish him well!

The photos above are from our visit to the Pacific Coast of Oregon earlier this month, where we enjoyed a run along the beach as well as an unforgettable six-course dinner at Marche restaurant in Eugene as featured guests at a fundraiser for the Eugene Hearing and Speech Center. Jane Eyre McDonald spoke of the Center's "scholarships" for patients who cannot afford care, including a chef who had lost his voice rendering him unable to command his kitchen, and how they were able to help him regain his ability to speak and work. Our thanks to Susan Bulkeley Butler for inviting us to participate, and for spearheading an amazing evening.

Coming September 16th:

THE FLAVOR BIBLE
The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity,
Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs

From the book's jacket:

Eight years in the making, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is a landmark book that will inspire the greatest creations of innovative cooks and chefs by serving as an indispensable guide to creativity and flavor affinities in today's kitchen.

Cuisine is undergoing a startling historic transformation: With the advent of the global availability of ingredients, dishes are no longer based on geography but on flavor. This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking — as well as a new genre of "cookbook" that serves not to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones focused on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations.

THE FLAVOR BIBLE is your guide to hundreds of ingredients along with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that will allow you to coax the greatest possible flavor and pleasure from them. This astonishing reference distills the combined experience of dozens of America's most innovative culinarians, representing such celebrated restaurants as A Voce, Babbo, Blue Hill, Cafe Atlantico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, The Herbfarm, Jardiniere, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, The Modern, Moto, and The Trellis.

Pre-Order Online:

THE FLAVOR BIBLE

Wow -- buzz about THE FLAVOR BIBLE has already hit the U.K.!

"One of my most thumbed reference books is WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, winner of the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book of the Year, a bible to matching food and drink. The authors are about to have a new book released: THE FLAVOR BIBLE: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs....Looking forward to what could be another essential book for us foodies."
—Andrew Barrow, The Foodie List: Foodie stuff from around the U.K.
(August 12, 2008)

Chocolate + Bacon = Mo's Bacon Bar = Delicious!

Everything's Better with Bacon...Even Chocolate!

We were interviewed by Associated Press reporter Michelle Locke this month about the wacky but delicious combination of bacon and chocolate, about which we'd expressed our affection in our July 2007 blog on our discovery (via an irresistable write-up by must-read Manhattan chronicler Charlie Suisman of Manhattan User's Guide) of Vosges' Mo's chocolate bacon bar.

What happens when you combine two of America's best-loved flavors? Besides an irresistable combination of sweet and salty, creamy and crispy, you get picked up by literally dozens if not hundreds of media outlets across the country and around the world -- including ABC News, the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, (U.K.) Guardian, International Herald Tribune, National Public Radio, San Francisco Chronicle, and USA Today since August 8th!

Ray Petersen, a long-time friend of Andrew's family, even spotted the article and its eye-catching photo of chocolate-dipped bacon in a local Bay Area newspaper, and very thoughtfully clipped out the half-page article and mailed it to us. Thanks, Ray!

Our Upcoming Schedule

New York

Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6 pm — Karen is again among the array of actresses, anchors and authors (who this year will also include Kathleen Chalfant, Carol Higgins Clark, Jill Eikenberry, and Gael Greene) to be featured as a "Celebrity Sous Chef" at the 5th annual “A Second Helping of Life," a tasting event featuring some of New York's best women chefs (including Amy Scherber, Rebecca Charles and Anita Lo) to benefit SHARE: Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer. The event will be held in New York City. Web: www.sharecancersupport.com

Chicago

Thursday, September 18, 2008 — Karen will be a featured Northwestern alumna panelist — along with novelist Loraine Despres and filmmaker Gayla Kretsch — on the subject of "Putting Creativity to Work" at Northwestern University's Council of 100 event in Chicago. Web: www.alumni.northwestern.edu/c100

Vancouver

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 6:30 pm — Karen and Andrew will be hosted by Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks at the Salt Cellar in Vancouver to discuss their new book THE FLAVOR BIBLE. Web: www.bookstocooks.com

Seattle

Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 6 pm — Karen and Andrew will be hosted for a dinner event around THE FLAVOR BIBLE hosted by Kim Ricketts Book Events and prepared by award-winning chef Matthew Dillon at The Corson Building in Seattle. Web: www.kimricketts.com

Washington, DC

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 6:30 pm — Karen and Andrew will discuss and sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE at a multiple-course dinner with wines held in the Fourth Estate restaurant at the National Press Club (529 14th Street, NW; 13th Floor) in Washington, DC. Web: npc.press.org/events/bookevents.cfm

Milwaukee

Thursday, November 13, 2008, 6-8 pm — Karen and Andrew will sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE at the Spice House at the Milwaukee Public Market (400 North Water Street) in Milwaukee. Web: www.thespicehouse.com

Chicago

Friday, November 14, 2008, 6:30 - 8:30 pm — Karen and Andrew will discuss and sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE at the Spice House (529 14th Street, NW; 13th Floor) in Chicago. Web: www.thespicehouse.com

Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 10 am — Karen and Andrew will discuss and sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE at the monthly meeting of the Culinary Historians of Chicago in Chicago. Web: culinaryhistorians.org

Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 12:30 pm — Karen and Andrew will discuss and sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE over lunch with ChicaGourmets in Chicago.

Washington, DC

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 5:30 - 8:30 pm — Karen and Andrew will sign copies of THE FLAVOR BIBLE at the National Press Club Book Fair (529 14th Street, NW; 13th Floor) in Washington, DC. (To be confirmed.) Web: npc.press.org/events/bookevents.cfm

Note: Our book tour planning is now underway, with plans in the works to visit a few other cities across North America. Invitations to speak or teach in your city may be forwarded to AndriaChin@aol.com, or of course to us directly at DornenburgPage@aol.com.

"Congratulations on your newest book.  I look forward to making my way through the pages.  Hope all is well with you. Best,"
--Jody Adams, Chef, Rialto and Saffron Hands, Cambridge, MA

"You were fabulous to make the trip out to help the Speech and Hearing Clinic, and I hope you enjoyed your visit.  It has certainly been some time since I spent a more enjoyable afternoon than I did yesterday. I am looking forward to the book event on September 28 in Seattle.  I am gathering up my foodie friends, and we will get registered....Marc tells me he loves everything that [chef] Matthew Dillon does, and has heard great things about The Corson Building, so it should be a tremendous evening."
--Kim Anderson, Seattle, WA

"Congratulations on this milestone achievement [of completing THE FLAVOR BIBLE].  Let the great reviews and the bookstore registers roll! All the best,"
--Jeffrey Deasy, AmericanFeast.com, New York, NY

"Hope you enjoy Marche this week. Kirk is from Eugene and his family still lives up there. We eat at Marche about every other visit and really love the food. Koho Bistro is a good little place as well but a bit off the beaten path. Exploring the wine area to the west of town is a lot of fun and definitely more enjoyable in the summer than in the winter."
--Cory Iwatsu, San Francisco, CA

"Congratulations on the new book!  It sounds marvelous and I can't wait to see it.  Have you considered coming to the Texas Book Festival this fall?  It would be fun to entertain you in Austin and Central Texas.  Just in case you're interested, here's the link. Take care, and best wishes for success with your new book!"
--Roseann M. Mandziuk, Professor, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX

"Happy summer!  I was just reading the newsletter and wanted to say congrats on the new book.  Unfortunately, it looks like you’ll be out of town for the Chanterelle book party [for four-star chef David Waltuck's exciting new Chanterelle cookbook, which we've pre-ordered].  You’ll be missed! I hope our paths cross at another event, soon. Best,"
--Chloe Mata, Baltz & Co., New York, NY

"Enjoy your culinary Enews! Thank you for sharing....Best,"
--Rona Tison, Senior VP, ITO EN (North America), Sonoma, CA

THE LAST WORD: We hope to have the pleasure of connecting with you this fall during our book tour for THE FLAVOR BIBLE. Thank you for letting us know about opportunities to introduce the book to flavor-loving readers near you. You can keep an eye on (and make suggestions for!) our book-tour-in-progress on the News & Events page of our Web site here.

Delicious wishes,
Andrew & Karen

Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page
527 Third Ave.  Suite 130
New York, NY  10016
Phone:  (212) 642-5870   
Email: DornenburgPage@aol.com
Web: www.becomingachef.com
Blog: www.becomingachef.com/blog.dwt.php