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Biography & Memoir
 The Man Who Ate Toronto
James Chatto
For those who love good food, fine wine, and great writing, this book sparkles with the characters of the culinary trade - and the wit of the man who has made it his business to try just about everything on the menu. Hardcover, 438 pp. $24.95.
 Dearie
Bob Spitz
Julia finally gets the biography she richly deserves, on the centenary of her birth. An in-depth, intimate narrative, full of fresh information and insights, Dearie is an entertaining, all-out adventure story of one of our most fascinating and beloved figures. Hardcover, 557 pp. $33.00.
 My Berlin Kitchen
Luisa Weiss
A remarkable memoir, part culinary journal and part love story. Luisa Weiss started her much loved and highly acclaimed food blog, The Wednesday Chef. This heartfelt and engrossing memoir will resonate deeply with anyone who's ever sensed the profound connection between the food we eat and our sense of home. This is a book you won't want to put down, except to make it's enticing recipes. Hardcover, 302 pp. $28.50.
 Elza's Kitchen
Marc Fitten
Set in post-Communist Hungary, Elza's Kitchen is the chronicle of a divorcee and the successful restaurant she built on up-dated Hungarian culinary classics. The tension and drama build when our heroine decides that her love life and her busuiness are becoming old and sets out to attract the attention of an international food critic. Softcove, 216 pp. $15.00.
 Restaurant Man
Joe Bastianich
Son of the revered Lidia Bastianich, business partner of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich grew up in the restaurant business beginning with his parent's "red sauce" Italian restaurant in Queen's, After a detour to Wall Street, he returned to the world he knew best, along the way earning four stars for Del Posto, and creating some of New Yrok's best known Italian eateries including Babbo, Esca, and Lupo, as well as Eataly. This is a well-rounded book that will appeal to both restaurateurs and those who out, blending business insights with dish on friends and enemies in the culinary world. Hardcover, 275 pp. $29.50.
Culinary Intelligence the Art of Eating Healthy (and Really Well)
Peter Kaminsky
Best noted for his cookbooks with four star chefs like Daniel Boulud, Peter Kamisky found that a life of hedonism and excess had caught up with him: he had diabetes. Instead of turning his back to gustatory pleasure, Kamisky, being a good gastronome, learned to modify his lifestyle without giving up the pleasures of the table. Thirty-five pounds later, Kaminsky shares his experience with us in this wry, insightful book. A must for any food lover struggling with his health. Hardcover, 258 pp. $28.95.
 The Homemade Pantry
Alana Chernila
This humourously written cookbook is both a memoir of sorts and an adventure through new discoveries in cooking. Alana Chernila, procurer of vegetables, cook and teacher of the art of Cheese making, argues that you should stop buying from the store and start making at home. With delicious recipes for home-made vanilla extract and sandwich cookies (OREOs!), you will soon be converted to the make-it-from-scratch club! Softcover, 287 pp. $28.99.
 Talking with My Mouth Full
Gail Simmons
Subtitled My Life as a Professional Eater, Gail Simmon's Talking with My Mouth Full is not only a tale of a Toronto girl making good in the New York food world in positions ranging from Jeffrey Steingarten's assistant to host of Top Chef: Just Desserts. It is the vivid story of food and love in a particularly supportive family.Written with humor and insight. Hardcover, 270 pp. $32.95.
 Menus for Chez Panisse
Patricia Curtan
Drawing upon 40 years of rich history and estoric guest diners, Patricia Curtan picks her favorite menus from her tenure at Chez Panisse as menu illustrator and brings them all together in a gorgeous scrapbook-style package. Accompanying records of each menu is a little blurb detailing the story behind the menu's conception as well as it's visual design. Hardcover, 174 pp. $45.00.
 Four Kitchens
Lauren Shockey
Lauren Shockey documents her time in kitchens after her graduation from the French Culinary Institute. Her adventures take her from New York to Vietnam, France and Tel Aviv in an inspiring story that truly exemplifies the cultural differences in kitchens all over the world. Hardcover, $27.99.
 Obsession
Nigel Haworth
Similar to Relais & Chateaux's 85 Inspirational Chefs, Obsession focuses on the recent surge of young culinary talent in Europe. Chefs are profiled with their culinary philosophy as well as a selection of recipes taken from their restaurant menus. As aesthetically pleasing as it is delicious, this book makes the seamless trip between coffee table and kitchen counter. Hardcover, 392 pp. $68.95.
 Beaten, Seared & Sauced
Jonathan Dixon
A must read for anyone contemplating enrollment in culinary school.
Dixon attends the two year program at the Culinary Institute of America
and documents every burn, triumph and humiliating defeat that comes
with the culinary education experience. Intensity starts early in
the industry and those thinking of entering should find out what
they're singing up for by reading this book. Hardcover $29.95
 The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adria's elBulli
Lisa Abend
Perhaps it takes a NY Times Spanish correspondent doing a stagerie at elBulli in 2009 to give us a true glimpse into kitchen life at the famed Spanish restaurant and its star chef Ferran Adria. Equally compelling for an outside observer as to those whose life is spent in professional kitchens. Hardcover, 304pp, $29.99. Read the longer review.
 Blood, Bones & Butter
Gabrielle Hamilton
Despite being the chef of Prune, one of Manhattan's most popular restaurants,
Gabrielle Hamilton has found the time to author a fantastic memoir. Documenting
her life from her very beginnings as a kid in a tumultous family, leading through
her times as a drug-addicted waitress and eventually to her role as chef, mother
and wife, Hamilton weaves a terrific account of her ascent to becoming one of
the best chefs in New York. Read
a longer review. Softcover,
300 pp. $19.00.
 Orchards in the Oasis
Josceline Dimbleby
Think of a less school marmish Delia Smith, and you can immediately visualize veteran British food writer Josceline Dimbleby. This beautifully illustrated cookbook-cum-memoir veers from Devon to Rangoon, from the Middle East to South America detailing the circumstances of her life along with whom she met and what she ate. The recipes range from kidney kebabs to the very British chicken in the orchard pie. Hardcover, $45.00.
 Life on the Line
Grant Achatz
Life, On The Line tells the story of Grant Achatz, Chef of Alinea,
Next and Aviary. While many are aware of his battle with tongue cancer
and his struggle to keep his Michelin 3-Star restaurant running despite
losing his sense of taste (he has since regained it), Life, On The Line
also addresses his early years growing up and his time under Thomas Keller
at The French Laundry. An extremely well-written memoir, even those not
big on the food business should consider this hopeful, inspiring story. Read a longer review. Softcover,
320 pp. $30.95.
 As Always, Julia
Joan Reardon
What began as a chance correspondence culminated in one of the most
transformative publishing events of the 20th century: the publication
of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.. The letters which flew between
Julia Child and her Cambridge, Massachusetts-based champion, Avis DeVoto,
trace the evolution of a masterpiece while recording the emotional
rollercoaster ride that accompanied the writing of the manuscription
and the struggle to get it published. Beyond that these letters shine
a light on the dichotomy that was America in the 1950s when both optimism
and McCarthyism reigned simultaneously. Softcover, 416 pp. $18.95.
 Ferran
Colman Andrews
For years Ferran Adria has stood alone at the forefront of avant-garde cuisine. Idolized, imitated and immortalized as the man who revolutionized cooking itself. One of the few chefs in history that can be referred to by only his first name, Ferran has achieved nearly every honor the culinary world can bestow. Colman Andrews sits down with the storied chef and gives you the chance to glance into the mind of the man who changed cooking forever. Hardcover, 301 pp. $35.00.
 Food Heroes
Georgia Pellegrini
Behind every great restaurant is a keen hunger to find fantastic products, whether they be wild mushrooms, figs or even traditionally cured meats. Georgia Pellgrini delves into the world of the artisans who bring these forgotten arts into the light. Join a wild mushroom forager on the wet forest floor as he picks golden chanterelles and earthy morels. Feel the salt spray as a fisherman pulls a line-caught fish out of the sea. Become introduced to the people who push the boundaries of food from something mass-produced to something that must be nurtured and cared for. Hardcover, 240 pp. $29.95.
 Medium Raw
Anthony Bourdain
A decade has passed since Anthony Bourdain revealed the secret life
of professional kitchens everywhere in Kitchen Confidential ($19.95).
Here he zigzags back and forth in time revisiting the places and
people who starred in his first book. His unflinching look at his
drug-fueled younger self contrasts sharply with the happily married
middle-aged father he has become. In between glances at the past,
he skewers--and sometimes praises--contemporary chefs, critics, and
culinary practices. Perhaps the most important pronoucement in the whole
book is his advice to eaters to put down the cameras and notebooks (bloggers,
that means you), to stop overthink a meal while consuming it, to submit
to the chef's artistry. Softcover, 281 pp. $17.99.
 Heston Blumenthal
Chas Newkey-Burden
The first complete biography on this perfectionist mega-chef takes you behind the scenes of Blumenthal's inspirations, culinary journey and television celebrity. If you were ever interested in the story of the man behind snail-porridge, here is your chance! Hardcover, 249 pp. $27.95.
 The Spice Necklace
Ann Vanderhoof
Island hopping and skipping from aromatic market to steamy kitchen,
the author of An Embarassment of Mangoes, leads her readers
on a sensual tour of spice in the Caribbean kitchen. Fact and fantasy,
larger-than-life personalities , and tongue tingling dishes suffuse
this fascinating tale. Though there is a list of the recipes, a complete
index would have been most helpful. Softcover, 459 pp. $21.00.
 Rifling Through My Drawers
Clarissa Dickson Wright
Fans of Spilling the Beans are sure to love Clarissa Dickson Wright's
new memoir, full of stories and adventures, all told with her own distinctive
humour and style. Best known as one of Britain's 'Two Fat Ladies',
Clarissa Dickson Wright has been an important member of the British
food scene for many years, and her writing always makes for an entertaining
read. Softcover, 289 pp. $16.99.
 Stirred But Not Shaken
Keith Floyd
The autobiography from the late, great Keith Floyd, the British chef who made it cool for guys to get in the kitchen long before Jamie and Gordon graced our screens. Floyd was as well known for his drinking, financial troubles, and multiple marriages as his food, but his colourful personal life should not overshadow the trememdous contribution he made to British cooking and food culture. Here he details the many adventures of his long and interesting life in food and television. Hardcover, 349 pp. $36.99.
 Risotto with Nettles
Anna Del Conte
Anna Del Conte, one of the food world's most beloved writers on Italian food and cooking, opens up about her life and cooking. Growing up in pre-war Italy her early food memories are happy ones, but as the war broke out she found herself in many dangerous situations, including imprisonment. However, Del Conte's writing is also a product of her many years spent in England as, having married an englishman, she has lived for the past 50 years. Full of stories, anecdotes and recipes, this is a great read for any food lover. Hardcover, 326 pp. $32.95.
 The Sweet Life of Paris
David Lebovitz
The switch from restaurant career to successful food writer, and
award winning blogger, has been our gain. In this latest book his
writing conveys a sense of place for the city of lights with much
humour interspersed. Accompanied by 50 original recipes, what better
way to celebrate early summer if one cannot be in Paris, than with
a book about food in Paris. Softcovercover, 288 pp. $16.00.
 What We Eat When We Eat Alone
Deborah Madison
Cause for celebration for some, for sorrow for others, eating alone is, of necessity,
a very personal ritual. Cookbook author Deborah Madison (The Greens Cookbook,
$45.00; Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, $50.00) and her husband,
artist Patrick McFarlin canvassed people from all walks of life, some, like Betty
Fussel and Laura Calder, well-known, some not, to learn the answer to one of
the most intimate of questions. For many, eggs or tuna play a major role, for
others, joy may be in the form of lumpy cream of wheat , cake batter, or unbaked
cookie dough. However one eats alone, this book affirms that while you may be
alone, there are hundreds if not thousands who are just like you! Those desiring
variation will find recipes at the end of each chapter. Whimsical illustrations
by McFarlin. Hardcover, 272 pp. $32.95.
 The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570)
The Art and Craft of a Master Cook
translated with commentary by Terence Scully
Chef to cardinals and popes, author of the weightiest cookery book of his time, Bartolomeo Scappi left behind a record of his work that gives readers, five centuries on, a view of the culinary world of the Italian Renaissance. Descriptions of dinners featuring up to 100 dishes, kitchen equipment needed for traveling, and food for the sick offer compelling snapshots of life in the late 1500s. Scully's, (professor emeritus at Wilfred Laurier Univeristy in Waterloo), commentary puts the work in context and links the past to the present. Reproductions of the engravings which accompanied Scappi's treatise, show his kitchen and the equipment required to produce those massive meals. Hardcover, 787 pp, $95.00.
  Butter Cream
Denise Roig
Denise Roig is a fiction writer with experience in corporate writing, freelance magazine and newspaper journalism. In her memoir, Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School, she ditches it all to study pastry. With the pastry kitchen becoming a metaphor for life, Roig reflects on her own complicated relationship with all things sweet. Softcover, 251 pp. $18.95.
 Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table
Edited by Amanda Hesser
A collection of essays from the New York Times. As Hesser
observes "Writers know that if you want to portray a person succinctly,
tellingly, you describe the way he eats." And
the essays don't disappoint! Softcover, 204pp, $20.00.
 Amarcord: Marcella Remembers
Marcella Hazan
An icon to many cooks and chefs, Marcella transformed our Italian cooking skills. This memoir takes us back to her youth and all her influences known and unknown. Hardcover, 307 pp. $30.00.
 M. F. K. Fisher: Among the Pots and Pans, Celebrating her Kitchens
Joan Reardon
July 3rd this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mary
Frances Kennedy Fisher. This charming book captures the culinary legend's
spirit through her many kitchens. Beautiful water colours, 27 recipes
and of course her kitchens recreated through Reardon's loving celebration
of Fisher's life. A wonderful gift or a treat for yourself. Softcover,
170 pp, $21.95.
 Secret Ingredients The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink
Edited by David Remnick
With essays from A. J. Liebling, M.F.K. Fisher, Adam Gopnik, Calvin
Trillin, Ogden Nash, Mark Singer, Nora Ephron, Julian Barnes to name
but a few, need we say more? Yes, we can, don't forget the cartoons.
Softcover, 583 pp. $21.00.
 Table Talk
A.A. Gill
Subtitled Sweet and Sour, Salt and Bitter, this collection of columns
from the Sunday Times and Tatler reveals
the peripatetic restaurant/television critic at his rapier-witted
best. Whether whale or Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Gill can mine any
dish for the greater truth about a culture. Softcover, 271 pp. $19.95.
 The Tenth Muse - My Life in Food
Judith Jones
Legendary editor of ground breaking cooks such as Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden, Edna Lewis, Joan Nathan and Marion Cunningham. But it is her early work work as editor of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking that created publishing and gastronomical history. This is a long overdue charming memoir from Jones, who has played a major role in the American food revolution. Hardcover, 290 pp. $29.95.
 Spilling the Beans
Clarissa Dickson Wright
The living half of the revered Two Fat Ladies, Clarissa
Dickson Wright’s unflinching memoir is full of paradises gained,
lost, and regained. The offspring of a gifted but alcoholic surgeon
and an Australian heiress, she became, at age 21, the youngest woman
ever called to the Bar. After her legal career drowned in a sea of
alcohol following the sudden death of her mother, Dickson Wright found
solace and then fame, though not always fortune, in cooking. Paper,
328pp, $18.95.
 Alone
in the Kitchen with an Eggplant
Edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler
Subtitled Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone,
this collection, sometimes poignant, often exhilarating, confirms that
eating alone and being lonely do not need to equate. M.F.K, Fisher,
Ann Patchett, Laurie Colwin, Marcella Hazan, Mary Cantwell, and Nora
Ephron are among the stellar writers who have realized the pleasures
and myriad ways of feeding oneself. Softcover, 272 pp. $23.95.
 My
Life in France
Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
It was exquisitely simple sole meuniere that changed both the life
of one woman and the course of North American cuisine. In her newly
published memoir, Julia Child traces her love affair with everything
French, particularly the food, from that day in November, 1948 through
the labour of love that became Mastering
the Art of French Cooking to her final visit in June, 1992.
Though written with her great nephew, Alex Prud'homme, it is Julia
herself whose words make this memoir so vivid that one can hear
her glorious, rumbling trill in every paragraph. Softcover $18.95 Read
a review of My
Life in France by The Cookbook Store's Jennifer Grange.
 Roasting in Hell's Kitchen
Gordon Ramsay
Titled Humble Pie in the UK, Gordon Ramsay's autobiography is
an unflinching look back at a difficult home life, the football career that almost
was, and the wildly successful cooking career that is. Yes, he employs the "s" and "f" words
almost as frequently in writing as he does in speaking. Colour and black and
white photos trace his life from the angelic-looking four year old he was to
the furrow-browed businessman he has become. Softcover, 284 pp. $17.50.
 The 100-Mile Diet
Alisa Smith & J.B. MacKinnon
Imagine going a whole year without olive oil or citrus fruit. In fact , within living memory people who lived in northern areas did do just that. After learning that most ingredients for the North American diet travel 1500 miles from earth to table, Smith and MacKinnon decided to try a year of eating locally. Becoming "celebrities of the blogosphere" in the process, they ate only what was grown within a 100 mile radius of their Vancouver home. This book reveals the pleasures, pitfalls, and environmental implications of the "100- mile diet." Hardcover, 266 pp, $32.95.
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Nasty
Bits
Climbing
the Mango Trees 
E
is for Eating An Alphabet of Greed
Comfort Me With
Apples
Becoming a Chef ,
second edition 