Aleksandra Crapanzano - EAT COOK L.A.: recipes from the city of angels

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Not so long ago, I was in the back of a taxi with my twelve-year-old son, Garrick, when he turned to me and said, If you need to spend the rest of the day on your book, you should. I want you to have the chance to do it right. If ever there was a more tender, more galvanizing offer, Ive yet to hear it. What Garrick intuitively sensed was that I had hit that moment that happens to all writers in the writing of a book when said writer needs a second wind to fill the proverbial sails and drive the boat home. And that needed burst of energy doesnt come from looking at the calendar and seeing the looming deadline. Thats called stress. Nor does it come necessarily from ones own inner reserves of strength. Those might have been depleted some time ago. It comes from those closest to you, and if youre lucky, it comes from a very sweet boy offering to give up weekend plans because he believes in you and what you are doing. Thank you, Garrick, for being wise and generous beyond your years. This book, my darling, is for you.

Most husband-and-wife writers would be the first to say that such commingled lives are both a blessing and a curse. Theres never that Honey, Im home! moment at the end of the day. Writers dont come home. They are home. And so it is all the more amazing that the man in the study next to mine still makes my heart lift when he passes my open door on the way to get another cup of coffee. That man is, of course, my husband, John. Turns out Honey, Im still home is just how I want it.

And then theres Griffin, our Bouvier des Flandres. Right there with us, always connected by an unseen current of unconditional love.

I am the daughter of writers, and from an early age I swore to myself that I would never ever write a book. But I did look with wonderment at my parents when they edited each others work with a coded language and an unspoken, shared aesthetic. I was let in on these moments in the kitchen, when my father would read aloud, perhaps a poem by John Donne, perhaps merely a newspaper article, as my mother cooked. I will always associate the sound of my fathers voice and the almost audible quality to my mothers acute listening to the heady smell of dinner on the stove.

Los Angeles is the home of my dearest friend, Andrea Nevins. Andrea, David, Clara, Charlie, and Jesse are as dear to me as family, and their home has been my home away from home during my many research trips to Los Angeles. This book would not have been possible without their warm welcome. And it would not have been nearly as fun to write.

I collected two hundred recipes for this book. To get from two hundred to the best one hundred meant testing and retesting and debating an ever-shifting table of contents. Chrissy Tkac was by my side at every step on this book and on my last one. She is the dream intern. A cook who is both intuitive and trained, a perfectionist, a sublime baker, and a lovely friend.

Everyone needs an advocate and a protector. My friend and agent, Eric Simonoff, is that force. Eric and his wife, Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, are two of the best people I know.

Jenny Wapner, my editor, was the first to understand my fascination with the evolving food scene of Los Angeles and to support it. A native herself, she pushed for this book every step of the way with grace and determination, editing down to the wire, even as she was fast approaching the due date for her second child. Emma Rudolph, who stepped in seamlessly when Jenny went on maternity leave and, with a keen eye and generous disposition, helped take the book to the finish line. Jane Tunks Demel, a copy editor who is both delicate and precise, always pushing not only for accuracy but for a unified voice. And Aaron Wehner, the visionary behind Ten Speed Press. Aaron never fails to amaze me with his intuitive and confident aesthetic. How lucky to have him championing lasting quality in a world that too often cuts corners.

Ive had the great luck of working with Creative Director Emma Campion on two books now, and both times, Ive been awed by her ability to listen to my inchoate ramblings and envision a finished beauty. Emma had the good sense to pair me with photographer Ray Kachatorian, stylist Valerie Aikman-Smith, prop stylist Amy Paliwoda, and in-house designer Lisa Ferkel. No one could ask for a more talented, more committed team.

Publicity Director Kristin Casemore and I began chatting on the phone when I was still in graduate school. At the time, I was working as a field producer for Martha Stewart and came across a Ten Speed Press book that I wanted to feature. It was through Kristin that I fell in love with Ten Speed Press, and now here we are, all these years later, the conversation still on and still a pleasure.

Nearly every recipe in this book is being published for the first time. But, in a couple of instances, a recipe has been previously published, and I simply couldnt forgo including it. My thanks to those publishers whove generously given us permission to reprint a beloved recipe here and there, most notably Chronicle Books for letting me publish Travis Letts recipes and Prospect Park Books for letting us include Christine Moores oatcakes.

Which leads me finally to thank, last, but not at all least, the breathtakingly brilliant chefs who inspired me to write this book and who very generously helped me fill it with their tried-and-true recipes. This book is about you, and it is very much for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALEKSANDRA CRAPANZANO is a screenwriter and food writer. A recipient of the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Distinguished Writing from the James Beard Foundation, she has been widely published in the New York Times Magazine , Food & Wine , Saveur , Travel + Leisure , Gourmet , Elle , Departures , and the Wall Street Journal , where for the last 8 years shes been a food columnist. Her essays have been anthologized, most notably in Best American Food Writing , and she is the author of The London Cookbook: Recipes from the Restaurants, Cafs, and Hole-in-the-Wall Gems of a Modern City . Aleksandra is married to the novelist John Burnham Schwartz. They live in New York with their son Garrick and dog Griffin.

BREAKFAST ANYTIME OF DAY

Josef Centeno of P.Y.T., Downtown Arts District

CORNMEAL PANCAKES WITH TURMERIC YUZU BUTTER

These pancakes can swing sweet, topped with maple syrup, or savory, as Centeno serves them at P.Y.T., with a vibrant turmeric yuzu butter. Or try them topped with date butter, which is as simple as combining one cup of softened butter with a quarter cup of pitted dates in a food processor and blending until well combined.

Serves 4

1 cup coarse-ground polenta (preferably from Anson Mills)

cup all-purpose flour

cup pastry flour

1 teaspoon salt

teaspoon baking soda

teaspoon baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

cup butter, melted