Gabrielle Hamilton. Photo: Melissa Hamilton

Gabrielle Hamilton can write, there's no doubt about that. Craft infuses her recent bestseller, peppered as it is with references to both body and kitchen fluids.

Still, this writer was reluctant to read the memoir of this reluctant chef. When a book like Blood, Bones & Butter gets so much advance praise it's hard to believe it can live up to the hype.

Let's review, shall we? There was the excerpt in The New Yorker, a New York Times profile and laudatory reviews from the paper of record by Michiko Kakutani and Frank Bruni, along with glowing accounts in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Of course, the womens' glossies weighed in with pleasure, as did the blogosphere, including the Times (again), 5 Second Rule, and Bay Area Bites.

Top chefs chimed in too: Her book boasts bubbly blurbs from Bourdain, Batali, and Boulud.

Curious to find out what all the fuss was about, this reporter went to hear Hamilton speak at Omnivore Books in March, when she swung through town on book tour, and again last Thursday, when she appeared on stage in conversation with Kim Severson as part of the City Arts & Lecture series. Oh, and in between this reporter devoured her almost 300-page coming-of-age story.

The book is an indisputable page turner, but let's dispose of one major beef up front: The last section -- "Butter" -- feels rushed and not ready for prime time, in large part because the central concern -- the unraveling of her lonely marriage -- was not resolved in real time. No matter, the publisher wanted that memoir hitting the shelves pronto and mass marketing waits for no one. (Hamilton said Thursday that she's since addressed the marriage matter -- in life and on the page in an epilogue for the paperback edition, available in January.)

Clearly, the woman has a talent with pots and pens. The owner of Prune, a wildly popular little bistro in Manhattan's East Village, (the restaurant's title comes from a childhood nickname), Hamilton recently won a James Beard Award for best New York City chef after receiving nominations for the coveted title three years running. (Though some grumbled that the gal who serves Triscuits and canned sardines at the bar won more for what she represents than what she cooks.) She's written about the chef's life for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and Saveur, where her sister Melissa Hamilton was an editor, and appeared in six volumes of Best Food Writing.

Hamilton has worked hard and overcome obstacles to get to the top of her game, in two creative fields no less. She survived a largely feral childhood followed by a drug-fueled, unsupervised adolescence, turned to cooking to find family, home, hope, structure, and salvation and wound up, on a whim, running a restaurant of her own.

She's not interested in glamorizing either pursuit. If anything she has a tendency to martyrdom: Hamilton recounts cleaning human excrement off the restaurant stoop and deposing of a dead rat riddled with maggots found on the back steps. She turns hundreds of eggs on the breakfast line, while major-league pregnant and, later, with babies clinging to her breast. Her autobiography, a decade in the making, is scribbled on brown paper between services, on subway rides, and while putting those babes to bed. There is never enough time or sleep.

Professionally, Hamilton is a big talent and a huge success. Her personal life, as she reveals in her book, is a bit messier. Estranged from her mother for decades, she identifies as lesbian but ditched the sisterhood for a clandestine affair with an Italian man she ends up marrying. He is the father of her two boys, though from the beginning of their coupling trouble is brewing. For starters, Hamilton seems more in love with his mother and summer visits to the Italian clan's compound than her actual husband.

These personal revelations would seem meaty subjects for seasoned interviewer Kim Severson in her City Arts & Lectures discussion with Hamilton. But Severson -- now the New York Times' Atlanta bureau chief who appears to keep her hand in the food beat and her heart in San Francisco -- was in a tricky situation. Just days before Hamilton landed in town the New York Post had dropped a bombshell about the celebrity chef's love life.

Of course, who Hamilton sleeps with is really nobody else's business, except that her memoir includes revelations about her adventures in the sack as well as an apron. And Hamilton talks a lot about the value of being honest and authentic in the kitchen and on the page. To top it off, the New York Post item on Hamilton was recycled in the local food media the day before her appearance.

Severson gave a nod to the matter early on in the chat: "I'm going to ask you the question on everyone's minds, [theatrical pause] How do you keep your skin so dewy?" That set the tone for an evening of mostly softballs from Severson, who made a running gag about not being "bitter" that Hamilton's memoir was a better read than her own, Spoon Fed.

The Times staffer did try some shock value, noting the book's unusual intimacy, which a friend described to Severson this way: "I feel like I know every fold in her vagina." But she quickly found herself in the role of comforting colleague, after an earthquake literally shook the subdued Hamilton, who looked like she wanted to bolt from the stage when things started rocking.

A few sips of wine later, however, Hamilton regained her composure and temporarily shut down Severson, as she meandered through her self-described cliched questions. Case in point: "What's the last taste you would want in your mouth before you die?" Surely not the first time Hamilton's fielded that query.

"I thought we were going to have an intelligent conversation about writing and you want to know if I keep lube in my bedside table," Hamilton scolded at one point. Note to Linda Hunt: Not all KQED subscribers may be amused by the repartee between these two, who wondered if any couple, regardless of orientation, can keep sex alive in a long-term relationship -- though, it must be said, the crowd at Herbst Theater ate it up.

During the audience Q&A fans gushed about how much they loved Hamilton's book, even if they hadn't finished it, and her restaurant, even if they hadn't eaten there yet. In such an environment, this reporter felt it would have been a hostile act to ask the writer-chef if she cared to comment about the recent allegations in the press. Instead, she opted for the more discreet email follow up to both Hamilton and Severson, neither of whom jumped at the opportunity to explain why the subject wasn't broached on stage.

Hardly surprising. Hamilton made it clear at her book signing at Omnivore that she's selective about what aspects of her private life the public get to know about through her writing. Her mantra: If it's not in there, it's not tellable -- readers don't get all of her. Fair enough.

It's this kind of contradiction -- the tell-all that keeps secrets -- that makes Hamilton such a fascinating creature. She's full of inconsistencies -- aren't we all? -- only hers are on display for all the world to see and hear. Hamilton often says she loathes being called "a female chef" and yet when TV came calling looking for just such a demographic, she jumped at the chance to take one for the team.

Similarly she thinks the term "food writer" is demeaning; she's simply a chef who is also a scribe and cooking is what allowed her to come to the party. Yet, when asked what readers can expect next from the literary writer she responds: A cookbook.

During the talk Hamilton mentions the moms at her sons' school, who she says look at her disdainfully as she drops off her kids. Her children eat poorly and often in the car on the way to school, she confesses. And yet, one can't help but get the impression that the 45-year-old looks down her nose at them. Severson counters that perhaps the other moms are intimidated or awed by the successful chef with the best-selling memoir but Hamilton dismisses this notion out of hand.

And the Beard Award is silly, Hamilton says, until she wins it, and then it's the most important culinary honor a chef can earn. Thankfully she has a sense of humor about all this flip-flopping.

One gets the sense that Hamilton doesn't give a hoot if you like her, agree with her opinions, or want to read her book. It's what makes her intriguing and may well be an essential part of why she's so talented on the page and in the kitchen. She's just doing her own thing and not seeking anyone else's praise or approval.

During the course of the 90-minute City Arts & Lectures dialogue she laments the fetishization of food (the cult of farmers' markets, home cooks with sous vide machines), discussions of gender issues in restaurant kitchens (snoozeville), and the plethora of social media around food culture. Reading about food online, she says, is like eating at McDonalds. "You end up feeling hungry, undernourished, tired, and full of self loathing."

She's also down on the rise of reality TV cooking shows, even though she's had her own turn in front of the camera. (She slayed Bobby Flay on "Iron Chef"). "It's starting to suck for all of us, since TV isn't about cooking it's about entertaining," says Hamilton. "It's impossible to be quiet or subtle with food on television because actual cooking is really quite dull and repetitive."

Plans for a movie based on the memoir are already in the works, Hamilton told fans Thursday. She jokes she'd like to see Robert Downey Jr. play her.

That seems about right. Hamilton has balls. And a muscularity to her convictions and craft that the actor could convey handsomely. Audiences with a taste for Hamilton's contrarian ways might just go for such gender-bending casting. Stay tuned.

Listen to the conversation between Gabrielle Hamilton and Kim Severson broadcast on KQED Sunday, November 27 at 1 p.m.

Joe Yonan in his home kitchen. All photos: Ed Anderson

Devotees of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock may well remember a scene in an episode that goes something like this: Liz Lemon, the perennially single character played by Tina Fey, is at home on the phone talking with her boss Jack Donaghy (played by public radio fan Alec Baldwin). Donaghy asks, somewhat unkindly, what Lemon did last night. She responds: "Well, I was going to go to my cooking for one class but my instructor committed suicide." Cue laugh track now.

Joe Yonan, the James Beard Award-winning food editor of The Washington Post, recalled that scene at a recent book signing at Omnivore Books, where he talked up his adventures in cooking for one, which he documents in a monthly column of the same name at the Post, and in his recent cookbook Serve Yourself (Ten Speed, paperback, $22).

Spend even a few minutes with Yonan and you'll figure out he's one funny guy. But Yonan isn't terribly amused by those who mock singletons who make a meal for themselves. That's because, he tells folks at the event, it feeds into people's perceptions that it's not worth "bothering" to make something delicious when "it's just me." He says such sentiment makes him tear up a bit and you believe him. He simply discounts the commonly held notion that cooking for one is depressing or sad. Alone and lonely are not synonymous in his mind. He's living proof: As the youngest of eight kids he has a highly developed sense of narcissism, he admits, and never ever thinks "it's just me." And you believe that, too.

That kind of secure thinking is worth imitating. Yonan's feed-yourself-well mantra boils down to this: Standards for what goes on the table shouldn't slip because there's only one place serving. That territory has been covered in other recent recipe books on eating alone, including those by culinary legends Judith Jones, Deborah Madison, and Joyce Goldstein, as well as an anthology of essays on the subject edited by Jennie Ferrari-Adler. (For reviews on these see my colleague Megan Gordon's piece on same, as well as her post on the lighter side of eating alone.)

Still, Yonan thought there was room in the genre for his male perspective (hello taco chapter) and his easy-to-make recipes aimed at food-fancying singles -- the fasted-growing segment of U.S. households. Young ones are waiting longer to get married (if at all), while many older folks who survive their spouses are healthy enough to live independently.

Serve Yourself is full of useful tips, walking readers through the three concerns of single amateur chefs: portion size, shopping, and spoilage. (In short: the freezer is your friend (cooked rice, broth, or pizza dough, can form the beginnings of many a meal), as is the fridge (condiments like chutney, kimchee, and salsa can brighten lots of dishes), and the pantry (dried beans, pasta, or grains, can get things started at the stove). He offers solutions for storage to minimize waste and recommends that soloists make it a goal never to have to stop at the store on the way home from a long day at work, which sinks many home cooks, regardless of how many mouths there are to feed.

Yonan views cooking for one as an opportunity to take a few risks and diversify one's repertoire, since there's no performance anxiety issues at play, like those that can surface when cooking for a crowd. There aren't any unknown eating quirks or allergies to cater to either, he notes, there's only your sweet self to satisfy.

Cooking for yourself is literally a way of taking care of yourself, adds Yonan, who's quick to acknowledge he frequently cooks for and eats with family and friends. But there's no question that learning your way around a kitchen makes you less dependent on others, whether paid or not, to provide you with nourishment. It's both a selfless and selfish act. It's certainly cheaper and healthier than eating out or ordering take out every night.

There's a growing audience for this book. "Lots of people become single later in life because the relationship or marriage goes south, and I've run into lots of those on book tour," says Yonan. "Some of them are a little more open to the idea of cooking for themselves than you might think, because they see it as something of sweet revenge -- finally getting to make the things that they've wanted to, things that damn partner never wanted them to make. Some find it soothing to nurture themselves when they're heartbroken, of course," he explains. "And some are ready to move on, big time. I had one recently single gentleman slip me a note at a signing that read, 'If you're ever ready to cook for two, you know where to find me.'"

Yonan's cookbook includes over 100 recipes for both weeknight dining and more complex cooking projects for weekend meals, when time is potentially less a factor. Not surprisingly eggs feature prominently (there's a whole chapter on these portion-controlled, versatile, long-lasting, fast-cooking, protein-filled friend of the single cook) and it's good to find another eggs-for-dinner advocate. Pizza gets a chapter too and Yonan reveals his Texas roots with his fondness for salsas, beans, and those tacos. Bonus: The man is a sweet potato fan. Dishes that sound worthy solo endeavors include Mushroom and Green Garlic Frittata, Sweet Potato and Orange Soup with Smoky Pecans, Catfish Tacos with Chipotle Slaw, and Smoked Trout, Potato, and Fennel Pizza. Meat lovers will find pulled pork, short ribs, and sirloin steak, no worries. And there are desserts too, like Cappuccino Tapioca Pudding with Cardamom Brulee.

The only drawback to solo cooking, as far as Yonan is concerned: There's no one to help with the clean up after dinner, which, since he lives alone, he often leaves until the morning, as there's no one to nag about dishes in the sink.

Yonan needs to send a copy of Serve Yourself to Tina Fey pronto. With his enthusiasm for the pleasures of cooking for one, even the cynical Liz Lemon might be won over.

Cappuccino Tapioca Pudding with Cardamom Brulee

Makes 6 (1/2-cup) servings

3 cups milk, preferably low-fat
1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2 egg yolks, whisked to combine
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pour 1 cup of the milk into a heavy saucepan. Add the tapioca and let soak for at least 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 2 cups of milk into a mixing bowl or glass measuring cup, sprinkle the espresso powder over, let it sit for a minute or two, and then stir to dissolve.

Whisk the espresso-milk mixture into the tapioca mixture, along with the egg yolks, salt, and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Over medium heat, slowly bring the mixture just barely to a boil, stirring constantly; it will take 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce the heat until the mixture is barely simmering, and continue cooking the tapioca, stirring occasionally, until the beads swell up and become almost translucent and the custard thickens, another 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it cool. Spoon the pudding into 6 individual 1/2-cup ramekins and wrap each in plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled. It will keep it the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

When you are ready to eat, unwrap one of the ramekins of pudding (thaw it first if frozen), and sprinkle the top with 1 teaspoon of the remaining sugar and a pinch of cardamom. Use a small culinary blowtorch to caramelize the sugar on top, keeping the torch moving so you deeply brown but don’t blacken the sugar, then eat.

Kim Severson, Chad Robertson, Sue Conley

Somebody get Kim Severson a TV gig stat.

Seriously, The New York Times staff writer, currently the Atlanta bureau chief, is friendly and funny -- she reminds me a little of Ellen DeGeneres -- and a top-notch interviewer to boot.

And Severson knows food: She covers the beat for the Times and before that for the San Francisco Chronicle. Last year she authored Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life, where she sings the praises of a group of female food icons, including Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl, who have played an important role in her personal and professional life. In an increasingly overcrowded genre (food memoir) Spoon Fed stands out for both its authenticity and candor.

Severson was in conversation last night as part of the City Arts & Lectures series with cheese maker Sue Conley, the co-founder of the celebrated Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station, and master baker Chad Robertson, co-owner with wife and pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt of Tartine Bakery and Bar Tartine in the Mission, where long lines can be found for the store's over-the-top baked goods, desserts, and Robertson's coveted rustic bread.

The baker's new book, Tartine Bread (Chronicle Books, $40), is a step-by-step guide to making his signature loaves -- complete with 29-page instructions for his Basic Country Bread. Queuing to buy may not seem as daunting as tackling his trademark crust. (Read a recent review of Tartine Bread on BAB by Megan Gordon.)

The topic for the evening? "On Artisan Food," which seemed fitting for two food purveyors known for their singular obsessions, turning out small batches of award-winning, high-quality products using premium ingredients. What could be a more fundamental food than bread and cheese? And yet these two craftspeople have elevated their chosen culinary pursuit to cult-like status.

Am I alone in thinking the Herbst Theatre -- with its bright lights, high-backed, stiff-looking chairs, Persian rug, and formal backdrop -- is not the warmest or coziest of places to curl up for a chat in front of an audience numbering in the hundreds?

Here's where Severson showed her craft. From the get-go she loosened up the crowd and her interview subjects with one well-placed quip after another. There was the nod to the news with a Charlie Sheen reference and the jokey asides; when Conley confessed that her adventures with cheese began when she fell for a Marin County park ranger Severson sighed: "Ah, that's where it always start." She asked the probing questions in a soft-peddled way, with queries like: "Is there a point in every small producers life where you just want to see your products on the shelves at Costco?" which played for good-natured laughs.

Another thing I admired: Severson didn't use the stage as an opportunity to flack her own book, which is just plain tacky. Trust me, though, I've been to enough of these kinds of evenings to witness such bad behavior. At a recent book event the interviewer in question used his allotted time with the audience to talk up his own tome as often as possible, and while he promised to ask the author sitting next to him about his own work it never happened. Cringe worthy.

Severson teased out interesting tidbits that engaged both her fellow stage members and the audience. Who knew Robertson's wife is gluten-intolerant and can't eat wheat? Or that Cowgirl Creamery stopped selling its popular quark (a spreadable, creamy cheese) because it didn't pass muster with a then 80-something taste tester searching for the soft cheese of his German youth.

There was plenty of talk about cheese rinds, bread starts, and what it means to be a food artisan too. Also discussed: Conley's self-described epic fails and Robertson's new-found fascination with ancient whole grains. And there was Severson's running gag about resenting waiting in line for "100 hours" for Robertson's bread ("I'm not bitter."). The entire program is scheduled for broadcast on KQED on Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. Take note: Robertson offers frustrated food lovers a tip about how to avoid the crowds at Tartine too.

To see Severson's schtick in person, stop by Omnivore Books tonight at 6 p.m., where she'll be reading from and signing copies of Spoon Fed.

Photo Credits: Chad Robertson (Tartine Bakery), Sue Conley (Cowgirl Creamery), Kim Severson (kimseverson.com)

The holiday season brings us blockbusters in the world of cookbooks--the big glossy show stealers. It's easy to get caught up in the Ad Hoc's and Noma's (for good reason). But recently I'm being drawn to the quieter cookbooks, the smaller-scale cookbooks without all the gloss or the high-profile chefs but with a whole lot of soul. Here are three of my current favorites.

Alice's Cook Book by Alice Hart
Quadrille Publishing has begun a very cool series called "New Voices in Food." Alice's Cookbook is one of them, and while it's written by a young woman in her 20's and is geared towards the 20-30 something crowd, I find it quite universal, imaginative, and substantial. Alice Hart ran the hit pop-up restaurant, The Hart and Fuggle, in London. Now she has a 1972 VW camper van with an actual kitchen where she finds much inspiration and quiet time to prepare meals. The book features chapters that are organized around occasions like Sunday Lunches or Camper Car Picnics and the photographs by Emma Lee successfully tell a story of a rustic, homemade life and capture Alice's spirit perfectly. In addition to recipes, Alice includes little segments such as "Quick Breakfast Ideas" (Scotch pancakes, Bloody Mary's) and practical tips on meal timing and scaling quantities. In terms of purchasing online, it's currently only available on Amazon's UK site, although Globe Pequot is slated to start distributing it in the U.S. come April. Want it sooner? Good news: Omnivore Books has ordered it and it has arrived! Give them a call or stop in to say hi to the lovely proprietor, Celia.

My Kitchen: Real Food from Near and Far by Stevie Parle
My Kitchen is another addition to the "New Voices in Food" series, this time by a young man and avid traveler who is interested in ingredient-driven cooking. Stevie Parle is a young chef who has worked at the River Cafe and now runs and cooks at the Dock Kitchen in Portobello Docks. His book is part storytelling from his vast travels, part anecdote, part culinary lesson, and large part simple recipes that celebrate the seasons and don't try to reinvent the wheel. Within each chapter, there's a "Master Class" where Stevie aims to teach his readers skills like "How to Slow Cook" or "What to do With Porcini Mushrooms." A very likeable, very unique book. Again, it will also be appearing on the shelves of Omnivore Books very soon.

Communal Table: Curated and Illustrated by Caroline Hwang
As curator Caroline Hwang puts it, Communal Table is about "sharing the love of eating and gathering together." First, in an effort towards full disclosure, I met Caroline through our blogs (hers is a mutual effort with Lisa Butterworth called the Num Num Chronicles. It's great fun. Check it out) and I'm actually included in the first issue of Communal Table, entitled "A Casual Setting." But I wouldn't recommend the project, obviously, if I didn't believe in its spirit wholeheartedly. And I do. Caroline is a Brooklyn-based illustrator/artist with a love for cooking and eating. She has illustrated for The New York Times, Real Simple and has shown in galleries internationally. The first issue of Communal Table includes contributions from folks like Cathy Erway, Tom Mylan and The Jewels of New York. With great contributors, Caroline's brilliant illustrations, and all the proceeds going to a food-related organization, there's not much to dislike. The proceeds from "A Casual Setting" will go to The Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based non-profit providing nutrition education classes for inner-city children, families and the public. I'm particularly excited to check out the "Dinner-Appropriate Frittata with Kale, Olives, and Taleggio." And even more excited to see more and more small-scale cookbooks like the ones featured above appearing on the shelves of my favorite local bookstores.

Celia Sack. Photo: Courtesy of Celia Sack

The stock of new, antiquarian and collectible cookbooks at Omnivore Books in Noe Valley is legendary, and the one of a kind store continues to be successful after opening in November 2008. One sweet touch is the blend of books coupled with fresh eggs for sale and occasional free apples from owner Celia Sack. Sack is often on duty at the store, where she offers friendly but knowledgeable advice based on her years as a book collector. Alice Waters cited the store as a culinary favorite in a recent Bay Area Bites interview, and industry and home cooks flock to the store to stock up and attend in-store events ranging from punch contests to edible art and a recent talk that included a Colorado whiskey tasting with Buzzio sausage. Sack also owns a pet store with her partner, Paula Harris, and the two stores have a connecting passageway. The two live in Corona Heights. When she isn't working or testing recipes for her selections for Williams-Sonoma stores nationwide, or upcoming "curated recipe keeper" book with a working title of The Omnivore's Recipe Keeper, Sack says she enjoys the following joints for shopping, eating, and drinking.

Celia Sack and Paula Harris. Photo: Courtesy of Celia Sack

Sack and Harris had their first date fifteen years ago in the Haight at Kate's Kitchen. "We got slap happy, on a sugar high, and rolled into bed together," Sack says, adding confirmation that yes, we can quote her on that last part. The two share what Sack calls "our secret thing" from Mill Valley, which is a guilty pleasure: In-N-Out Burger for double-doubles. They stop on their way to Tomales, where they have a home. "We stop in on a Saturday night, after we are exhausted from work. Eat our double-doubles and watch all the clean scrubbed teenagers" digging into their own fast food fare. Staying in Tomales is a way to rest and recharge on days off, and the eggs that Sack sells in the store are from there.

Petaluma is home to other favorites for the duo. "We always go to Dempsey's. Also, there's a tea place called the Tea Room Café. It's just so wonderful, and I’m going there with my sister soon."

For what she calls a "calm grocery store experience" with a "fantastic liquor selection," Sack heads to Mollie Stone's, in the old Tower Market space in Twin Peaks. "There are three shelves of spectacular bourbon," she says, and that the parking is easy. "They have a parking lot in the back, that no one uses, or seems to know about."

New May Wah on Clement Street is Sack's resource for Asian ingredients, in the Richmond District. "It's a store that has space that is half fresh goods, like fish, meat and vegetables. The other half is full of dried goods, that are awesome."

Down the street on Clement, Sack likes to get "the best pho in the city," at Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant, which tends to not be as crowded (ever) as the nearby Burma Superstar.

After work, Sack and Harris "love to go to Range, and sit at the counter." The cocktail drink of the day is something Sack says she always orders, along with a mix of the restaurant's appetizers. "They change (the apps) a lot, and I prefer to eat any of their appetizers" as a meal, says Sack.

La Ciccia, which is a few blocks away from Omnivore Books, is a go-to spot due to "their pastas, which are all wonderful. The whole fish dish is really nice. They have an amazing Sardinian wine list."

Sack shares a secret for getting a table at the popular Gialina Pizzeria, in Glen Park. "If you call ahead, they will put you on the list." Upon arrival, it's a pizza--the nettles with pancetta is a draw--and "all the pizzas are awesome," adding that owner Sharon Adriana's strengths are her salads and cheesecake. Sack says the salads are so good that "she should do a restaurant just around salads," a concept that could gain traction in the green-friendly Bay Area.

Back at the shop, Omnivore is set to have a busy October, with a schedule that Sacks calls "so insane and great" and definitely worth checking out. Diana Kennedy, Madhur Jaffrey, Rajat Parr & Jordan McKay, Michael Chiarello, Tyler Florence, Dorie Greenspan, Rene Redzepi, are among the highlights.

Alice Waters photo by David Liittschwager

Alice Waters caught up with Bay Area Bites on the last stop of her In the Green Kitchen book tour recently. She greeted and hugged most of the guests at the designer (chi-chi) Carrots Boutique, where four hundred dollars buys a smashing chapeau. Cocktails were made up by handsome male barkeeps from the neighboring Bix Restaurant, and owner Doug Biederbeck seemed obsessed with the event flow--he was mulling over when and whether Waters would speak and wanted to be sure folks knew they had to pay for Waters' latest cookbook. Eats were radishes and fava bean crostinis.

Daniel Lurie was one of the hosts of the Carrots event, and said that "everyone loves Alice… clearly," as he watched her surrounded by loyalists. Lurie told BAB that he showed Ms. Waters how to ride the subway in New York City over a decade ago, when he was living there. No surprise that Waters demurred on answering SFist Editor Brock Keeling’s query, “What is your favorite junk food?” However she did eventually agree to share her favorite Bay Area food-related faves with BAB. Waters has lived in North Berkeley, "a short walk away from Chez Panisse, for over 40 years."

Boulette's Larder
1 Ferry Building #48 Map
(415) 399-1155
Hours: No table service on Saturday
Breakfast Monday-Friday 8AM to 10:30AM
Lunch Monday-Friday 11:30AM to 2:30PM
Brunch Sunday 10AM to 2:30PM

Waters: My Saturday morning trip to the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market is one of my most beloved rituals--I stop by Boulette's to get my English muffins and eggs for breakfast. For a weekday lunch I order a simple, perfect salad or pulled pork sandwich.

Primavera at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
1 Ferry Plaza Map
NO PHONE
Hours: Saturday 8AM to 2PM

Waters: I love their authentic, organic handmade tortillas--they also have incredible special dishes from all the regions of Mexico.

Flatland Flower Farm at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market
1 Ferry Plaza Map
NO PHONE
Hours: Saturday, starting at 8AM

Waters: I buy wonderful plants here for my garden--vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers--as well as deliciously crisp, dry-farmed apples in season.

Swan Oyster Depot

1517 Polk Street (between California Street and Sacramento Street) Map

(415) 673-1101

Hours: Monday-Saturday 8AM to 5:30PM

Waters: I come here when I’m craving freshly caught crab or oysters on the half shell--the place is small, but grab a spot at the cool marble countertop bar if you can.

Sebo
517 Hayes Street at Octavia Street Map
(415) 864-2181 –-no reservations taken
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 6PM to 10PM
Sunday 6PM to 11PM

Waters: This Japanese restaurant is incredibly tiny--and so, so good! It serves the best sushi I’ve tasted in San Francisco.

Zuni Café
1658 Market Street (between Franklin and Gough)
 Map
(415) 553-2522

Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:30AM to 11PM
Friday-Saturday 11:30AM to midnight

Sunday 11:00AM to 11:00PM
Closed Monday


Waters: My home away from home for 25 years. The roasted chicken with bread salad is one of the truly great dishes of the Bay Area.

Blue Bottle Café
66 Mint Street (between Jessie Street and Mission Street) Map
(415) 493-3394

Hours: Monday-Friday 7AM to 7PM
Saturday 8AM to 6PM
Sunday 8AM to 4PM

Waters: This is the coffee we serve at Chez Panisse--it’s organic, and has incredible flavor. Their café on Mint Plaza has several unique ways of brewing your coffee--all of them delicious.

Omnivore Books
Omnivore Books Map
3885 Cesar Chavez Street (at Church Street) Map
(415) 282-4712

Hours: Monday-Saturday 11AM to 6PM
Sunday 12PM to 5PM

Waters: A tiny store that sells new cookbooks and vintage, hard-to-find editions. It also hosts special tasting events and book signings.

Acme Bread
1601 San Pablo Avenue (at Cedar Street) Map
Berkeley CA 94702-1317
(510) 524-1327

Hours: Monday-Saturday 8AM to 6PM
Sunday 8:30AM to 3PM

Waters: This is the finest bread in the Bay Area, period. And it’s all made with organic flour and using only solar energy!

Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Avenue (at 50th Street) Map
Oakland CA 94609
(510) 652-4888

Hours: Monday-Thursday 5:30PM to 10PM
Friday-Saturday 5PM to 10:30PM
Closed Sunday

Waters: Wood-fired pizzas, a superb bar, and a great big patio out back.

Ajanta Restaurant
1888 Solano Avenue (at The Alameda) Map
Berkeley CA 94707
(510) 526-4374
Hours: Monday-Sunday 11:30AM to 2:30PM, 5:30PM to 9:30PM

Waters: This lovely neighborhood Indian restaurant uses organic produce and has an ever-changing, seasonal menu.

The Cheese Board
1504 Shattuck Avenue (at Vine Street) Map
Berkeley CA 94707
(510) 549-3183
Hours: Monday 7AM to 1PM
Tuesday-Friday 7AM to 6PM
Saturday 8:30AM to 5PM
Closed Sunday

Waters: For over four decades, this workers’ collective across the street from our restaurant has been serving seasonal pizzas, fresh sourdough baguettes, and divine cheeses to all of Berkeley.

It all started with pancakes. As many great things do. Kim Boyce, former pastry chef at Spago and Campanile, left the industry to settle down and have a family. At home, she was inspired to bake but wanted to create healthy options for her kids without spending all day in the kitchen. While shopping at the market, Boyce picked up a small sack of Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake Mix. Later in the day, her young daughter was hungry and there wasn't an immediate plan for meal-time, so Boyce grabbed the flour and added in apples, pureed beets, milk, eggs and butter and had some darn fine (and unique) pancakes on her hands. This began her interest in cooking with whole grains. And I'm so, so thankful that this interest turned into a minor obsession and a very real talent, yielding her special cookbook, Good to the Grain.

I'm much more of a baker than a cook, and I often experiment with whole wheat flours in certain recipes--thinking I'm making a cake or cookie recipe that much healthier. It makes me feel somehow o.k. when I go back for a second (or third) portion. But Boyce makes a point that this book isn't just about substituting a whole grain flour in place of white flour. She's spent time getting to know the flavor profile of each type of grain and the texture that each lends to baked goods. In her Introduction, Boyce notes:

"Baking with whole-grain flours is about balance, about figuring out how to get the right combination of structure and flavor from flours that don’t act the same way as regular white flour.”

And the recipes are truly original and insanely appealing. From strawberry barley scones to muscovado sugar cake to ginger peach muffins -- morning and evening treats are included and photographed beautifully by Quentin Bacon. Bacon knows how to photograph rustic desserts, capturing the simplicity of a scene, the slight dimness of morning light, and evocative shots of half-eaten desserts. This book has been on my bedside for the past two weeks and I look forward to crawling into bed and climbing into Boyce and Bacon's world each night. Actually, it's a world I'd prefer never to leave.

The book itself is organized logically, with twelve different grains/flours covered and each chapter donated to one of them. For example, Boyce begins with a chapter on whole wheat flour and ends with spelt. Somewhere in between you'll find recipes that include amaranth, teff, rye, kamut, buckwheat--and so on. There are 74 recipes total, and Boyce gives a great list of online sources to order some of the grains (page 200). After all, not all of us are lucky enough to have Rainbow Grocery or other natural foods stores with great bulk sections in our backyard.

Now generally with a book review worth its weight, the author will have cooked or baked from the book and will perhaps include a recipe for readers to try. I have done neither of those things. You see, this interesting thing has happened where a few friends and a coworkers have brought me treats made from Boyce's book. That's actually how I first learned of it. So while I haven't exactly baked from it myself, I've tried her chocolate chip cookies (and they're absolutely fantastic: chewy yet sturdy and studded with hand-chopped chocolate), the gingersnaps and the chocolate babka. We're not talking healthy deprivation here. We're talking pure joy and indulgence. That being said, I understand some of you may be seeking out a bit more information and authority on Boyce's recipes. So here are a few of my food-blogging colleagues and friends who have detailed their hands-on experiences with the book:

• Figgy Buckwheat Scones from 101 Cookbooks
• Carrot Spelt Muffins from Pithy and Cleaver
• Honey Amaranth Waffles from Fake Food Free
• Olive Oil Cake from the Wednesday Chef
• Muesli from 5 Second Rule

To close, I'm moving again. More on that later. But as you all know, moving has a way of forcing you to purge things you're not using and packing up the things you want to hold onto. I have trouble letting go of cookbooks, but I did donate a few this time around to make room for some new ones and to make life just a little easier come moving day. But I know for a fact that Good to the Grain isn't going anywhere. I've never been so excited to read, absorb each word and tip, and bake and bake and bake from a book. While I hope this move will be almost the last for a very long time, I know that Boyce's book will make it into any U-Haul that crosses my path for many years to come.

In the forward to the book, Nancy Silverton notes,

My first impulse when I’m tasting a dish or a baked good I’ve never had before is to think about how I would do it differently, how I would improve upon it. I love it when I come across something and think ‘This is perfect! I wouldn’t change a thing!’"

I agree. Wholeheartedly.

We're all fortunate here in the Bay Area because Kim Boyce is speaking at Omnivore Books tonight. Come and pick up a book and meet my new baking legend in person. Here are the details:

Monday, May 24th at Omnivore Books: 6-7 p.m.
3885 Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
(415) 282-4712

Diagnosed seven years ago with allergies to wheat and dairy, Lauren Hoover was thrilled. Finally, she had a reason for the stomachaches and congestion that had plagued her for decades. All she had to do was cut every last bit of wheat and dairy out of her diet. How hard could it be, especially for a smart foodie and trained chef?

"I didn't think I ate a lot of processed food, but the first time I went to the supermarket after my diagnosis, I stood outside in the parking lot and cried," Hoover relates. Everything, it seemed, had some sneaky remnant of wheat or dairy in it. "I thought, what am going to eat, besides chicken, fish, fruit and vegetables? I decided right then that I wasn't going to live the rest of my life without the foods I love."

As a professional pastry chef trained at the California Culinary Academy, Hoover was better equipped than most to start tinkering with her favorite recipes. Having worked at numerous high-end hotels, resorts, and restaurants including San Francisco's La Folie, she didn't want to ditch her pot pies and chocolate cakes for quinoa and sprouts. Instead, she wanted her meals to be healthy but normal-- the sort of thing anyone would be happy to eat, whether or not they had food sensitivities.

What began out of necessity turned into a mission. Returning to college to pursue a psychology degree, she had dreams of becoming a child-advocacy lawyer. In between classes, though, she kept baking, bringing wheat, dairy, and soon sugar-free treats to her study buddies. Friends clamored for her cupcakes and other goodies, and finally an enthusiastic friend insisted that she share her recipes in a cookbook.

"This has become my legacy, the way I can help people who are suffering," says Hoover. The 150 sweet and savory recipes in her new book No Wheat, No Dairy, No Problem are the result of seven years' worth of experimenting, testing, and teaching. She'll be celebrating with a launch party on Saturday, July 18 at 3pm at Noe Valley's Omnivore Books.

So, what are the must-haves for the wheat- and/or dairy-free kitchen? Since Hoover doesn't cook with refined sugar, agave nectar is high on her list, although she also likes date sugar, sucanat, and maple syrup for sweetening. "Along with agave nectar, I'd say oat flour, olive or grapeseed oil, and some kind of milk substitute-- I like coconut and almond milks, but you can use rice or soy milk, too," she notes.

Making her book accessible, even to novice cooks outside the well-stocked environs of the Bay Area, was very important to Hoover. "I'm not interested in using a lot of weird ingredients; I think people should be able to make these recipes whether or not they have a Rainbow Grocery down the street."

Accordingly, her recipes offer plenty of suggestions for substitutions, along with instructions for whipping up homemade basics like raw almond milk.

The back of the book also offers a crash course in supermarket label-reading, including a 4-page list of often-overlooked wheat and dairy derivatives, from whey protein to modified food starch.

Having seen too many food-sensitive friends give in to momentary brownie or pizza cravings only to suffer the consequences for days on end, Hoover promises that "with this book, you can have everything you love without having to suffer." The hardest thing for her to leave behind? "Triple-creme cheese, and yogurt," she sighs. "But I know, for me, it's just not worth it."

Summer Fruit Crisp

Adapted from No Wheat, No Dairy, No Problem by Lauren Hoover

Yield: 6-10 servings

Ingredients:

Filling:
3 pounds of stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, apricots, plums), washed, pitted, and cut into 1" slices
½ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon tapioca starch or 2 tablespoons oat or barley flour

Topping:
1 cup oat or barley flour, sifted
½ cup date sugar, maple sugar or sucanat
1 stick Earth Balance, cold or frozen, diced
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla powder, optional
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds)
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss fruit with filling ingredients and pour into a 9x12 glass baking dish or a 2-quart round soufflé dish. Set aside.

2. Put topping ingredients into a food processor with the 's' blade, and pulse until it is until it is crumbly and the size of cherries. (This can also be done with a pastry cutter in a bowl.)

3. Pour topping evenly over fruit and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling. Let cool for 1 hour before serving.