Archive: books

Another Session Added! – Appetite for Reading II

Dear Friends,

So many readers were interested in the Appetite for Reading II series that we have decided to have another session, this time on Mondays.

If you were on our waiting list, please contact the store to formally register. If you weren’t on the list but are interested, please call us for details.  

Appetite For Reading: A Book Club for Serious Food Lovers continues with the 2nd instalment in the series taking place Nov 2010 – May 2011.

We’ll read and savour 6 books about food – one a month for 6 months.  Each month, we’ll meet in a carefully selected restaurant to discuss the book. Chosen restaurants will have main courses available for under $25, and you will be able to choose items from the full menu (no prix fixe).   This exciting club allows you to participate in lively discussions about each book in a wonderful restaurant setting.  We will of course also discuss food and restaurants over our meal! This is an interactive club, not a lecture, so come and enjoy the chance to have your opinions heard and share in other people’s impressions of the books we’ll be reading.  And no, you don’t have to know how to cook to join!

As a restaurant critic and food writer, I am passionate about food, books and restaurants and hope that you will join me on this adventure. Surrounded by good food and people who love to get lost in great books, this is an experience that you won’t want to miss out on!

My mouth is watering already.
Stephanie Dickison, author of The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home
Pricing, Availability, and Registration:   Two seatings available: 6-8 pm or 8-10 pm, all meetings are on Mondays
Price: $178.01 (includes all 6 books, membership fee and HST)
Membership is limited to two groups of 12. To reserve your spot, please contact Maxeen at Nicholas Hoare 45 Front Street East  Tel: (416) 777-2665 or email Maxeen at  toronto@nicholashoare.ca
For more info: www.booksabroad.com “Appetite” or Stephanie Dickison stephaniedickison.com
Appetite For Reading Menu

Amuse Bouche
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Monday, November 1, 2010 -Restaurant T.B.A.

Appetizer
The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship
Monday, January 10, 2011-Restaurant T.B.A.

Salad
Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life
Monday, February 7, 2011-Restaurant T.B.A.
Entrée
Knives at Dawn
Monday, March 7, 2011-Restaurant T.B.A.

Dessert
My Kitchen Wars
Monday, April 4, 2011-Restaurant T.B.A.

Aperitif
Don’t Try This at Home
Monday May 9, 2011 -Restaurant T.B.A.

The Books We’ll Be Reading.  Notes by Stephanie.
This time round, I’ve changed the book list a little. In this series, we’ll read a food writer’s recollections, the inside stories from a restaurant critic, a  fiction title, a food-obsessed writer’s memoir, a detailed look inside the industry and a cookbook author’s experiences. Take a look:
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Tim: My Adventures in Life and Food by Moira Hodgson
This restaurant critic (formerly of the New York Times, currently of the New York Observer) weaves professional, insider secrets of reviewing restaurants for a living with memoir moments that make for a rich, evocative read.  You’ll certainly read about many famous chefs and personalities, but it’s perhaps Hodgson’s life that you will remember most fondly.  Thankfully, recipes are included.
The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
It’s called a “novel cookbook” so it seemed like a good choice for the club – a little bit of fiction and then off into the kitchen to recreate some of the recipes.  Sounds like fun to me.  Lilly and Val are lifelong friends, revealing the novel’s details through their letters that also contain recipes.  It’s hard to remember that it’s a novel at times, because it’s written by 2 real-life friends and the dialogue throughout rings true. There are more than 80 recipes here so I bet we’ll be cooking as much as reading.
Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life by Michael Lee West

Don’t be surprised if you drool on the pages as you’re reading this one. This Southern Tale covers both the new and old South and offers up foods that you probably aren’t so familiar with here in the T-dot (Which is why you might find yourself scouring online markets at midnight for ingredients to make Lemon Chess Pie and hush puppies).  This accessible read covers home cooking, whether it’s a dish to take to a potluck or feeding friends and family at home, in a completely charming fashion.
Knives at Dawn: America’s Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d’Or Competition by Andrew Friedman

Competitions are what much of food television is about these days.  So I think it’s fitting to include a title like this, where everything is on the line and you can’t help but get caught up in 24 culinary teams competing at the most prestigious cooking competition.  Can you imagine having to cook for 5.5 hours straight, only to be judged by the world’s best chefs?Gulp.The story of this competition is intriguing in of itself, but it’s the play-by-play detail that will have you flipping pages long after the rest of the family has gone to bed.
My Kitchen Wars by Betty Fussell
Betty has written at least 12 books, but this title might just be her most compelling.  What’s nice is that this cookbook author has gone outside the usual autobiography template and uses acerbic    humour to share her stories.

Don’t Try This at Home edited by Kimberly Witherspoon

In this raucous collection, over forty of the world’s greatest chefs relate outrageous true tales from their kitchens. From hiring a blind line cook to flooding the room with meringue to being terrorized by a French owl, these behind-the-scenes accounts are as wildly entertaining as they are revealing. A delicious reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren’t always perfect.

Nicholas Hoare
45 Front Street East
Toronto, ON M5E 1B3
416-777-2665 phone
416-777-0295 fax
www.nicholashoare.com
www.twitter.com/NicholasHoareTO

Discover the Charms of Edinburgh

There are many reasons to visit Edinburgh.

Being the capital city of Scotland, there is so much to do – travel the Mary Queen of Scots Trail, take part in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo Festival , visit The Writers’ Museum (free admission to view manuscripts and books of Robert Louis Stevenson and others) and take in the amazing artwork at the City Art Centre.

But first you’re going to need a place to stay.

Check out hotels in Edinburgh city centre.

Hotel Missoni (pictured above) is excitedly modern for those wanting to add a little extra panache to their trip.  Outfitted by the stellar fashion house, Missioni, the look is fresh (black and white with hits of colour) with clean lines and sleek surfaces.

The Balmoral Hotel is luxurious and modern too, but their 188 rooms have touches of Scottish heritage and classic finishes. And it right beside Waverley Station.  Talk about convenient!

And to get a hotel experience like no other, The Glasshouse is a contemporary hotel behind the facade of the 150 year old Lady Glenorchy church. What a great way to bring a historic building to the modern crowd!

I think it’s going to take a few trips to see all that you want in Edinburgh, don’t you?

Food Book Club Update – Appetite for Reading Series 2 is a Go!

Well, my two lovely Appetite for Reading groups met for a final dinner at Quince Restaurant.

But it’s not really over!

Nicholas Hoare Books has graciously allowed me to do another Appetite for Reading Series with them!

We’ll be meeting once a month for six months – October 2010 to April 2011 (with no meeting in December), reading 6 intriguing titles about food and discussing the books over dinner at restaurants all around the city, carefully selected by yours truly.

To put yourself on the waiting list, please contact the store at  toronto@nicholashoare.ca or call 416-777-2665.

I’d like to thank Nicholas Hoare Books, especially Co-Manager Maxeen for doing all of the administrative work (read: the heavy lifting!) and the restaurants that hosted us for some of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had – Pearl Harbourfront, King Street Social Kitchen, Pangaea, Provence Delices, Caplansky’s Delicatessen and Quince.

And of course, many thanks to all of the group members for their interest and support. For without you, I would be eating and reading all by myself.

We will be announcing the new book list soon (I have chosen very different books this time around).  Please sign up for these updates by clicking on the “subscribe” button on the right.  That way, as soon as there is a development, you’ll be the first ones to hear about it!

I hope to see you soon!

Radio Show News – Books Abroad Founder Ben Walsh Is My Next Guest

For my next show, Tuesday, July 20th from 2 to 3 pm, I hope you’ll join me as I interview Books Abroad Founder, Ben Walsh live in the studio!

We’ll be talking about memoirs, biographies, book clubs and the incredible travel book clubs that Ben created and offers through the Nicholas Hoare bookstore.

Ben also have a new blog, where he’ll  be reviewing book club selections, books from the store as well as announcing new and exciting events.

Ben is one of those people that you can’t help but get excited by, and just watch – you’ll be making notes and ordering a stack of books just 10 minutes into our talk!

Food Book Club Update – Taste Series & Appetite for Reading

If I’m not writing, I’m reading.  If I’m not reading, I’m eating or cooking or shopping for ingredients.

That’s why I started the food book clubs with Nicholas Hoare Books.

We have one more meeting of Appetite for Reading in July, but the good news is that we’re going to be starting a new Appetite series in October.  I am working on the book list as we speak and we hope to have all the details finalized by the end of July.

I will keep you posted here, but if you would like to get on the list to be contacted once the details are in please, please contact the store or myself.

I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

Radio Show News – The Request Lines are Open

I have a bunch of radio show news.

First of all, my next guest is author Ann Vanderhoof.  We’ll be talking about her latest memoir, The Spice Necklace.  That show airs Tuesday, July 20 at 2 pm and I’m excited because I get to talk about my two favourite things – books AND food!

Also, the CKLN on-air request lines are open!  You can call  416-595-1655 (Last week, someone named Norman called to say how much he was enjoying the Rona Maynard interview as it was happening.  Thanks, Norman!).

The station signal can be difficult to get from old-school radios, so be sure to tune in online and listen live or if you are a digital cable subscriber with Rogers, you can tune us in on Channel 947.

Also, I have a few slots remaining for the end of the year, so if you are a memoir author, please contact me with book title, description and your availability.

Many thanks for tuning in to In Other Words, 88.1 FM in Toronto.  My show, Portraits on Paper airs every 3rd Tuesday of the month at 2 pm.

Photo – Cookbook Section

After reviewing a restaurant, I was in the mood to browse new book titles.  Of course I had made my way into the cookbook section, which now has a gazillion subsections, one of which is this above.

Yes, it is completely and utterly out of hand now…