Melanie Rehak (Eating for Beginners) and I on These Days

I think it's got to be every food writer's fantasy to get a chance to work in a restaurant kitchen. For one year, New York writer Melanie Rehak did just that at applewood, a little neighborhood restaurant near her apartment in Brooklyn. Melanie chronicled that year, which coincided with her toddler son Jules's picky eater phase. But she went beyond just entertaining readers with her restaurant experiences and frustration trying to feed her son -- which might have been good enough. She traveled around the region to a cheesemaker, farms, and out to sea to catch monkfish. She had a Lucy Ricardo moment sorting beans, and picked and packed baby spinach leaves, lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. She made Hooligan cheese, milked goats, and was a disaster at sea (if you know what I mean) -- all to better understand and convey to readers how we get our food and help us make thoughtful buying decisions.
                              
                                   The result of these journeys down the street and across state lines is the marvelous book Eating for Beginners. I devoured it in just a few days, relishing her stories -- and her recipes.

Luckily, Melanie is in town to promote the book. She and I will be on These Days together with host Maureen Cavanaugh on Wednesday morning from 10 to 11. I hope you'll tune in at 89.5 FM or on the show's website, www.kpbs.org/thesedays. Call with questions. We'll be comparing what it means to buy and eat local in the Northeast and Southern California. And, I'm hoping she'll share some restaurant kitchen secrets.

By the way, that evening Melanie will be doing a signing and reading at Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla as part of a Slow Food Urban San Diego event. The event starts at 7:30.






Print Page