Villas at Table: A Passion for Food and Drink (The Cook's Classic Library) - Softcover

Villas, James

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9781558217065: Villas at Table: A Passion for Food and Drink (The Cook's Classic Library)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558217061 ISBN 13: 9781558217065

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 1998

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Representing the cream of James Villas' writing about food and drink, including his first piece for "Town & Country", this book is filled with recipes, literate explications of the origins of ingredients and dishes, trenchant critiques of restaurants, and exhortations to excellence.

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From the Back Cover:

Hilarious, bold, and - vicariously - satisfying, Villas at Table represents the cream of James Villas' writing about food, drink, and the good life. Included are his first piece for Town & Country, "The Quiet Pleasures of Cognac and Cigars," as well as other gems from such publications as Travel and Leisure, Cuisine, Food & Wine, and Esquire. Full of recipes, literate explications of the origins of ingredients and dishes, trenchant critiques of restaurants, and exhortations to excellence, Villas at Table is a cornucopia - well-seasoned with humor, style, and crankiness - whipped up with passion.

From Publishers Weekly:

Villas, food and wine editor of Town & Country , adores caviar and the late S.S. France , but also prizes M.F.K. Fisher's recipe for the perfect hamburger. Though fond of cognac, truffles and foie gras, the self-described "ultimate wine snob" salutes sardines, baked beans and bistros. His wide-ranging collection of 43 essays on his forays into food provides as many recipes as chapters, yet is not a cookbook. "I've yet to turn out . . . biscuits . . . that can equal Mother's fluffy wonders," mourns the author, but gives instructions "detailed enough to ensure reasonable success." Villas writes nostalgically of holiday meals and cooking traditions from his Greek-Swedish-Southern background, and candidly admits his dislike of la nouvelle cuisine ("the silly conceits of the so-called New American style of cooking") and of "young, inexperienced superstar chefs." His best pieceson country ham, scotch whiskey and the nirvana to be had at the Princess Grill aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 are travel pieces for the roving appetite. The less successful ones merely chat on about people, places and umpteen favorite dishes.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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