Award-winning authors of BECOMING A CHEF, CULINARY ARTISTRY, DINING OUT, CHEF'S NIGHT OUT and the 2004 IACP Cookbook Award Finalist THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF

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1. A Top Psychic's 2004 Prediction
2. THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF cited as "One of the Year's Best Cookbooks"
3. What We're Writing Next
4. What Andrew's Cooking: Oscar-Inspired Recipes Just in Time for February 29th
5. Where We're Eating: Gilbert's (Lake Geneva) / Kalustyan's Masala Cafe (NYC)
6. What We're Reading
7. Our 2004 Travel Schedule

A year ago, much to my horror, I discovered that my diamond had fallen out of the engagement ring Andrew had given me when he'd proposed to me under the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree 14 years earlier. Having no idea whether it had fallen out while on my daily run in Central Park, in our apartment, or somewhere in the miles between, I nonetheless searched our home for the better part of a day — and was devastated when I wasn't able to find it.

A strange idea crossed my mind, as I suspect it might whenever someone becomes this distraught: I thought about Fahrusha (Fahrusha@fahrusha.com), the lovely woman named one of the city's top 10 psychics by New York magazine whom I had hired for the prior several years to provide psychic readings as entertainment at an annual alumnae party I organized — even though I was always so busy hosting the party that I'd never asked her for a reading myself.

Since I had already given up all hope of ever finding my diamond, I decided I had nothing to lose. Feeling a bit ridiculous, I called her and explained my predicament. Fahrusha — who's never set foot in our home — replied matter-of-factly that my diamond had fallen out of the setting when I'd taken my ring off my finger and put it in the white box that I'd put on top of my bureau. (As I had done exactly that before I'd left home to get a manicure, she had my attention!) She told me that my diamond was at an angle that made it hard to spot with the naked eye, and that in the morning Andrew and I should buy a very strong flashlight and shine it around the floor — and that perhaps I might catch a glimpse of its sparkle.

The next morning, we did as she advised. Within 10 minutes of shining the flashlight along the floor of our bedroom, I saw a glint — my diamond!

In addition to earning my eternal gratitude, I thought Fahrusha had at the very least earned lunch at any restaurant of her choice in Manhattan! She mentioned that she had once done readings at a party hosted by a network executive upstairs at Le Bernardin — and that the hors d'oeuvres had been so delicious she'd wondered ever since what it would be like to dine there. My 3+ hour lunch there with Fahrusha was one of the most memorable of my life — for the great pleasure of getting to know Fahrusha better, not to mention the great pleasure of savoring chef Eric Ripert's extraordinary cuisine!

Thus, while neither of us understands how Fahrusha gets her information, Andrew and I have learned to listen when she makes predictions. This past fall, Fahrusha told me I'd be getting my photograph taken at a particular angle — which turned out to be the precise angle photographer Tracy Allan happened to use to depict Andrew and me on the cover of the December 15, 2003, issue of the New York Resident.

This past Friday, Fahrusha sent me a friendly email checking in to see how I was feeling (as it happens, I'd just gotten over several weeks of the flu) in which she wrote, "Your food books will soon make you a household name. Has the Food Network approached you yet?"

We're listening, Fahrusha, we're listening — and look forward to discovering what 2004 has in store for us!

In turn, we wish all of you a delicious year as your own great fortunes unfold!

We're honored that our latest book THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF: Cooking with the Best of Flavors and Techniques from Around the World (Wiley; 11/03) was cited on the holiday gift lists and/or in the year-end round-ups of the best cookbooks of 2003 by several important journalists, including:

- Gael Greene of New York
- Kathie Jenkins of The St. Paul Pioneer Press
- Carolyn Jung of The San Jose Mercury News
- Marilynn Marter of The Philadelphia Inquirer
- William Rice of The Chicago Tribune
- Bart Ripp of The (Tacoma, WA) News Tribune
- Cheri Sicard of FabulousFoods.com
- Muriel Stevens of The Las Vegas Sun
- Marion Sullivan of The Charleston Post and Courier

We're grateful for their very kind words of support for a book of which we're very proud, and one that we're convinced has the potential to make anyone a better cook! For more information, please visit our Media Room at http://www.becomingachef.com/media_room.php

"My guests tonight are two of my very favorite people in the food world....I love the way that they write, I love the way that they think, I love the way that they see things differently than everybody else."
—Jennifer English, award-winning host, The Food & Wine Radio Network (1/22/04)

We're currently finishing work on an exhilarating new book proposal that breaks new ground on the subject of flavor compatibility, in the vein of our 1996 book CULINARY ARTISTRY (which has been called "a pioneering work" on the subject) — but with the advantage of both a more comprehensive angle as well as our next-generation thinking on the topic. We look forward to finding the best possible publisher for it who can help us bring it to the widest possible audience.

If you're not familiar with our book CULINARY ARTISTRY, which is frequently cited as the #1 favorite book of professional chefs around the globe and even prompted one enthusiastic reviewer to deem it "one of the world's best cookbooks" remarking, "CULINARY ARTISTRY is an amazing book. I haven't read anything like it before. It's as eye-opening as MASSE UND MACHT [by Elias Canetti, winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Literature]," you can read more about it on our Web site at http://www.becomingachef.com/culinary_artistry.php.

It's been widely reported that this year's field of Oscar contenders is the most global in history, with nominees from across Africa, as well as Brazil, England, France, Iran, Japan, New Zealand and more. These multi-national nominations call for an equally multi-national celebration!

If you're hosting an Oscar-night party and looking for a deliciously diverse array of dishes to serve, you're in luck: Our new book THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF: Cooking with the Best of Flavors and Techniques from Around the World features dozens of stellar recipes that fit the bill. Pick and choose according to your favorite film — or your favorite flavors!

- Carnivorous fans of "LOST IN TRANSLATION" will love Hiroko Shimbo's "Miso-Marinated Steak" — while admirers of Italian-American director Sofia Coppola will enjoy top Italian-American chef Mario Batali's "Braised Pork Roll with Ziti"

- A triple pleaser in honor of France's "THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE" is hands-down France's legendary export Daniel Boulud's "Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine" and "Celery Duo" capped off with "Cherry Gratin"

- Lovers of "BIG FISH" are sure to love Barbara Tropp's "Steamed Whole Fish with Seared Scallions"

- You can even celebrate Oscar winners of old like "CASABLANCA" with new recipes such as Paula Wolfert's Moroccan "Smoky Green Herb Salad"!

You'll find recipes for all of these dishes in THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF, and several of them are also posted on our Web site at http://www.becomingachef.com/recipes.php

GILBERT'S
327 Wrigley Drive
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
(262) 248-6680
www.gilbertsrestaurant.com
This is one of our new favorite restaurants in Chicago (as it's worth the 90-minute drive north)! No kidding — as many of you know, one of our other favorite restaurants in Chicago is SANFORD in Milwaukee. This delightful restaurant showcases the talents of chef Ken Hnilo as well as extraordinary local products (including one of the best steaks we've ever had, which was procured just a few miles from the restaurant).

KALUSTYAN'S MASALA CAFE
115 Lexington Ave. (at 28th Street)
New York City
(212) 686-5400
www.kalustyans.com
Like many of the top chefs and food writers in America, we are long-time fans of Kalustyan's, the infamous international gourmet market located in Manhattan's Curry Hill neighborhood — and now we've become fans of the brand-new restaurant blending Indian flavors and French technique that bears its name.

For our full reviews, please visit our Web site at http://www.becomingachef.com/restaurants.php.

> THUNDER FROM THE EAST: It seems there's been a new story every time we turn around about how difficult it will be to get into, and how expensive it will be to eat at, the new restaurants in the AOL Time Warner building in New York City. We suspect that journalists and patrons alike might enjoy taking a break from pounding their keyboards and cellphones to read a few pages from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and (Karen's fellow Harvard Business School alumna) Sheryl WuDunn's book THUNDER FROM THE EAST: Portrait of a Rising Asia.

In the chapter "Bellyache in Japan," Kristof spins a delicious story about Kiccho, "perhaps the most exclusive restaurant in the world," putting the restaurant's exclusivity into context by mentioning that even the legendary R.W. Apple of the Times wasn't able to procure a reservation there in 1993. (However, with an introduction from Japan's Prime Minister, Apple was able to dine at another restaurant "just one notch below Kiccho.") The rest of the book is a fascinating look at modern Asia.

> OUR #1 FAVORITE FOOD PROFILE OF THE YEAR: The extraordinarily delightful and heartwarming "Savoring the Chemistry of Southern Cooking" by Alex Witchel in THE NEW YORK TIMES is one of the best articles of the year, not to mention the kind of feature that makes us proud to be part of the food community. It's worth Googling for this article to see if you can catch it online, and even worth shelling out the $2.95 it costs to retrieve it online at www.nytimes.com. Here's the Times' abstract:

"Alex Witchel's article on close relationship formed by Edna Lewis, 87-year-old black woman [whom we'd interviewed for our book BECOMING A CHEF] and Scott Peacock, 40-year-old gay white chef, during collaboration on a new cookbook, THE GIFT OF SOUTHERN COOKING: Recipes and Revelations From Two Great American Cooks; during seven years in which they wrote book, their friendship deepened and they moved in together four years ago to a quiet garden apartment in Decatur, Ga. during last year...and Peacock has assumed responsibility for [Lewis's] care."

We hope to have the pleasure of seeing you during our travels over the next several months, which include keynote speeches and appearances at:

- The Book & The Cook
- Cascadia Culinary Arts Conference
- Draeger's
- The Fort Bend Wine & Food Affair
- Kings Cooking Studio
- L'Academie de Cuisine
- The Silo
- Smithsonian Institute
- Viking Range
- Windows on Long Island Wine, and more

Please check out our Web site for details at www.becomingachef.com/news_and_events.php.

March 16: New Jersey

March 17-18: Philadelphia

March 24-25: Los Angeles

April 1-4: San Francisco

April 15-16: Philadelphia

April 20-22: Chicago

April 28-30: Houston

May 1-2: Connecticut

May 4-5: Washington, DC

May 19-20: Vancouver

May 21-23: Seattle

June 3-6: Boston

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In closing this month's e-Newsletter, we'd like to thank you for your interest in our work. We welcome your feedback, and look forward to hearing from you at Dornenburg@aol.com.

Warmest wishes during this coldest of seasons,
Andrew & Karen