"WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT: Dornenburg and Page demystify the challenge of food and beverage pairing in this exhaustive, accessible resource....This comprehensive collection provides a wealth of guidelines for pairings, not only by specific food, but by food type, time of day, characteristics, season, and personal mood....This encyclopedic collection is highly recommended for those who give serious thought to the flavor of each dish."

— Publishers Weekly
(June 19, 2006)

"WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT [is] the most exciting
and comprehensive guide to wine pairing that I have ever seen...."

— Chef Eric Ripert

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

We hope your summer is off to a delicious start!

Ours is — and we've been working hard to keep you posted on our Blog of some of the best meals of this month and last, including Alain Ducasse, Babbo, Bette, Bloodroot, Celeste, Chinatown Brasserie, Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar, Jean Georges' Nougatine, Jerry's, Jimmy's, The Modern, Pearl Oyster Bar, Prune, Solera, Thomas Henkelmann, Tia Pol, and Walter's Hot Dogs.

We were thrilled to receive such a rave review of our book WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea — Even Water — Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers (Little, Brown's Bulfinch Press) this month in Publishers Weekly. The book will be hitting bookstore shelves this fall, so we hope you'll keep an eye out for it — and/or pre-order it from Amazon.com so you'll be sure to receive one of the very first copies hot off the press!

This is a book that has the potential to change the way America drinks, in an even more profound way than we've recently learned that our book CULINARY ARTISTRY has. We've been told by avid mixologists (formerly known as bartenders) that they use CULINARY ARTISTRY as a bible to come up with new cocktail combinations.

Speaking of cocktails, if we don't see you this summer in New Orleans at TALES OF THE COCKTAIL (July 19-23), we'll hope to have the pleasure of seeing you this fall on our book tour for WHAT TO DRINK in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, or elsewhere! Have an idea for us? As always, we love hearing from you at Dornenburg@aol.com.

Delicious wishes,
Andrew & Karen

Karen Page with Dan Aykroyd at Eat, Drink, Canada! HE MODERN at the Museum of Modern Art was the site of the extraordinary dinner event Eat, Drink, Canada! hosted this month by Canadian Consul General Pamela Wallin showcasing the food, wine, and even beer of Canada. The menu featured the bounty of British Columbia (oysters), New Brunswick (salmon), Nova Scotia (lobster, scallops), Ontario (strawberries, white asparagus), and Quebec (duck, foie gras), as well as wines (from Rieslings to ice wines) from the Niagara Peninsula and Okanagan Valley. The featured guest was none other than Canadian-born Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd, who is an investor in Canadian wine and at whose table we had the honor of being seated. We were pleased to learn that we shared not only a love of blues music, but of men in blue — and a mutual friend in Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton, whom Aykroyd (who collects police badges, and rides a police motorcycle) had joined at an event benefitting the LAPD in April.

The French toast at the Homestead Inn in Greenwich N THE MOOD for a New England escape? After making the most of our 48 hours in Connecticut this past week, we've got plenty of recommendations for you....Stay at the Homestead Inn in Greenwich, which is a Relais & Chateaux property run by chef-and-designer couple Thomas and Theresa Henkelmann. You'll love the charming rooms and suites filled with one-of-a-kind art works, and you'll be in good hands over breakfast, lunch and/or dinner in Thomas's eponymous restaurant Thomas Henkelmann, which last month won a rare four-star rating from The New York Times. Be sure to stroll the grounds and enjoy the beautiful sculptures....In nearby Bridgeport, check out Bloodroot, the wonderful vegetarian restaurant opened by a feminist collective 30 years ago....If you pass through Mamaroneck, New York, on your way to or from Connecticut, take our (and Veritas sommelier Tim Kopec's) advice and stop for a veal hot dog and chocolate shake at Walter's, which has been around since 1919 and is housed in a Chinese pagoda.

C-H slide show: Alinea's bacon on a rocking bow F SUMMER FINDS you in the Midwest, you can check out two of the three avant-garde restaurants featured at last week's "Presentation: The End of the Plate?" event at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Chicago is home to both Alinea and Moto, where chefs Grant Achatz and Homaro Cantu, respectively, hold diners spellbound with creations like bacon on a clothesline and doughnut soup. Cantu's flatware with a built-in corkscrew for storing fragrant herbs or the like is on exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt through October 29th. And if you find yourself in Washington, DC, you can check out the third featured restaurant: Minibar at Cafe Atlantico, which showcases the talents of James Beard Award-winning chef Jose Andres and Katsuya Fukushima.

Two books that could change your life this summer HERE'S NO REASON to read this paragraph if your life is perfect — but if (like ours!) it's not (yet!), we've got two recommendations for great summer reading. Become the CEO of You, Inc.was written by our friend Susan Bulkeley Butler, who pioneered the business world by being named not only the first woman professional but the first woman partner at the firm that became the $15 billion global consultancy Accenture. Susan shares how to create any change you'd like to see in your life through her four-step "Make It Happen" model, which is based on the model she used with leading organizations while at the helm of the firm's Change Management practice....If your life is so far from perfect that you consider yourself to be in crisis, have no fear: In Welcome to Your Crisis, our friend New York Times bestselling author Laura Day shows you how to use the power of crisis to create the life you want. Both books read like they're written by friends who really, truly want to help you meet any of life's challenges — and, in fact, they are.

The #1 strawberry dessert of our life at Alain Ducasse N THE SHORT span of a few hours just the other week, we learned invaluable lessons about extraordinary cuisine and hospitality while the lunch guests of legendary winemaker Bernard Magrez at Alain Ducasse New York in the Essex House, at a celebration of the 700th harvest of Chateau Pape Clement. We had the privilege of tasting some of the best wines of our lives, each beautifully elevated by the cuisine of the world's first Michelin nine-star chef in history....This roomful of New York journalists was caught by surprise and genuinely moved when Magrez shared his candid memories as a child of his deep gratitude to Americans for liberating France, which had subsequently enabled his life's work of carrying on the French winemaking tradition.

Everybody Loves Pizza by Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby HANKS TO OUR READERS, WHO WRITE .... "We want to thank you again for your support of Everybody Loves Pizza: The Deep Dish on America's Favorite Food [which lists the Top 10 Pizzerias in America, including Una Pizza Napoletana (NYC), DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies (Trenton, NJ), Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix), Pizzano's (Chicago), and Punch Neapolitan Pizza (St. Paul); you'll have to buy the book to learn the other Top 5!]. The book is selling well, and we have received nothing but positive reviews. Just wanted to let you know: On Thursday, June 29th, The History Channel is airing a one-hour show (“American Eats”) on the definitive history of pizza — and we will appear on the show, talking about our favorite subject. (Check your local listings for the time.)" —Jeff Ruby and Penny Pollack, authors, Everybody Loves Pizza

FROM OUR MEDIA ROOM:

If we don't make it to your city on our book tour this fall, we'll still hope to connect with you via our "Virtual Book Tour" in September: We're just starting to line up 26 Web sites and Blogs to feature WHAT TO DRINK in September, starting the day after Labor Day: September 5-30. If you'd like to sign up for one of the 26 daily slots [and commit to feature excerpts from the book and/or an author interview, etc. on your particular day] — which will be publicized in the media as well as on our Web site and in our next e-Newsletter — please contact Julia at CookbookRave@aol.com.

"Q & A with chef Kevin Lendrumbai [the 35-year-old chef of Il Portico....Favorite] COOKBOOKS: CULINARY ARTISTRY by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page is a book I recommend for cooks. It has a lot of excellent information and philosophies of renowned chefs."
— Sally Johnston, Edmonton Sun (Alberta, Canada) (June 21, 2006)

"WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT: Dornenburg and Page demystify the challenge of food and beverage pairing in this exhaustive, accessible resource. Believing that the best matches create peak experiences, the authors consult with the world's most discriminating palates, who see food and drink as inseparable. With stories from such noted chefs as Daniel Boulud, Traci Des Jardins and Patrick O'Connell and a host of top sommeliers, this comprehensive collection provides a wealth of guidelines for pairings, not only by specific food, but by food type, time of day, characteristics, season and personal mood. From fast food to ethnic cuisine, they include unlikely entries such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer), oxtails (Barolo), moussaka (Retsina, Rioja), potato chips (beer, champagne) and saag paneer (Pinot Gris). While focusing primarily on wine, the authors include matches for a variety of other beverages, including tea, water, coffee, beer and spirits, and offer the pairings in reverse — what to serve if you've already selected your beverage. This encyclopedic collection is highly recommended for those who give serious thought to the flavor of each dish. "
— Publishers Weekly (June 19, 2006)

"Mumbai, that long tongue of land sticking out into the sea, is as global in its food as in its finance. Rashmi Uday Singh celebrates the city's huge appetite and suggests ways to further whet it....Mumbai is a city that lives by its gut, and for the last 16 years, for every single week, I have been privileged to get a gut feel of the city. My weekly column has me flooded with reader feedback in the form of lengthy phone messages, emails and letters too....So, has Mumbai arrived? No way. Gourmet capital? Not quite. Andrew Dornenburg once said, ‘What drives gastronomy is money and people,' and we lack neither. Why then are we not out there with the food capitals of the world? Find out...."
— Rashmi Uday Singh, food critic, The Times of India (June 9, 2006)

"Chef Recipe and Interview: Yellowstone's Jim Chapman. Q. How many cookbooks do you have? How many do you actually use? A. About 150 cookbooks. I use 35-40 regularly. Most used are CULINARY ARTISTRY, The New Professional Chef, Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, and The Art and Science of Culinary Preparation."
— Beverly Magley, editor, Montana magazine (June 2006)

“'It used to be the armchair traveler; now you have armchair diners,' said Andrew Dornenburg, a chef turned award-winning author. 'You get this vicarious pleasure from reading good writers.'...Becoming a food writer doesn't require the same rigid qualifications that it takes to become a doctor or airline pilot. 'People think everybody eats three times a day, so everybody is an expert,' said Karen Page , a food writer based in New York. But the best critics approach it as a serious discipline that takes knowledge and passion, rather than getting caught up in the perks and power the position brings, she said. 'First and foremost is loving food,' Page said. Page and her husband, Dornenburg, have written a series of acclaimed books that examine what it takes to achieve success in different aspects of the restaurant business. On their Web site www.becomingachef.com, they blog about restaurant experiences and dining news. In DINING OUT, considered a modern-day primer for restaurant critics , they detail what being a good critic entails, from the perspective of both chefs and writers. Having worked in a restaurant or knowing how to cook are important, Dornenburg said. 'A lot of it is being able to identify certain ingredients and being accurate in reporting,' Page said. 'It's an appreciation and compassion for what a restaurant goes through. I think restaurant critics who don't have that are at a real disadvantage and do readers a real disservice.'”
— Maria C. Hunt, restaurant critic, San Diego Union Tribune (May 31, 2006)

"CIRQUE-US OF THE STARS: Storied haunt hopes to recapture old magic ....If social jockeying is a contact sport in New York City, then tonight's party celebrating the reopening of Le Cirque is the equivalent of a rugby scrum....On top of that, the original Le Cirque crowd isn't getting any younger — and the restaurant business has changed a lot since Le Cirque's heyday. 'There's just so much more competition,' says Andrew Dornenburg, who's written a half-dozen books about chefs and restaurateurs along with his wife Karen Page. 'You have a lot of great four-star restaurants, and the three-star restaurants are pretty phenomenal, too.' Still, Dornenburg said you'd be foolish to best against him. 'It's hard to keep that magic going, but he's smart enough to do it.'"
— Chris Erikson, New York Post (May 18, 2006)

Interview with Chef Jason Travi of La Terza in Los Angeles:
"AB: What are your favorite cookbooks?
JT: Visually, I like Michel Bras' cookbook. For utilization, I like CULINARY ARTISTRY by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. It interviews all these famous chefs. It asks them what their favorite ingredients are, what goes with what, and it has interviews and signature dishes."
— Antoinette Bruno, StarChefs.com (May 2006)

"And in case you didn't get enough of the James Beard Awards, you can get the backstage perspective courtesy of Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page at BecomingAChef.com."
— Laren Spirer, "Tidbits," Gothamist.com (May 11, 2006)

"Hot for Ice Wine: Ice wines should be served, of course, very cold. Enjoy it in small amounts with dessert, in the small glasses it is usually poured into. 'The natural apple, pear and apricot flavors of this very rich wine make it the perfect complement to a diverse array of foods -- from desserts (especially those featuring apples, blueberries, custard, lemon, lime, nuts and peaches) to cheese plates (especially those featuring soft or blue cheeses, such as Stilton),' say Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, authors of WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT. 'It can also stand up to savory dishes such as duck, foie gras, and pork.' And while it is, ounce for ounce, surely one of the most expensive wines out there, a mere few sips make for an incredibly satisfying tasting experience."
— Tracy McNamara, "The Good Life," TheStreet.com (May 8, 2006)