The Shared Table: Cooking with Spirit for Family and Friends

A labor of love from one of the most celebrated chefs in the business, Don Pintabona’s The Shared Table is a cookbook designed for casual dining with family and friends. With its focus on cooking and community, The Shared Table takes us on a culinary adventure.

Recipes correspond to chapters of Pintabona’s life and are infused with his recollections, from his earliest days in the kitchen, frying meatballs with his Italian relatives; to his festive block parties in Brooklyn; to his travels, whether to the front of the restaurant range or to a remote locale in search of new ideas and flavors.

Pintabona writes about the hospitality he’s received and about how food plays a vital role in bringing people together in harmony and friendship, something he pondered deeply while serving food to workers at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of September 11. Here he shares those reflections of how a community can demonstrate the best of the human spirit.

Along the way, Pintabona invites us into the kitchen to create a stunning array of dishes, both simple and exotic. Among them are Thai Shrimp Toasts; Hearty Lentil and Tomato Soup; Grilled Asparagus with Basil-Orange Vinaigrette; Four-Cheese Mac and Cheez; Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Mushy Peas; and Turkey Meat Loaf with Cranberry Glaze. Pintabona also provides the secrets to a variety of sauces, including Nana’s Fresh Marinara Sauce, Ginger Plum Sauce, and Yellow Curry Sauce. His remarkable desserts include Tarte au Chocolat, Sweet Asian Plums, and Ricotta Cookies.

Brimming with striking food and travel photographs and with family snapshots, this heartfelt cookbook inspires us to prepare meals for gatherings of those we love–and exemplifies the unshakable bonds forged when food is shared at the table.

DON PINTABONA is one of the pioneers of contemporary American cuisine. During the past two decades, he has visited more than thirty countries and worked alongside some of the world’s finest chefs, including Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, and Georges Blanc. From 1990 to 2003, Pintabona was executive chef of the award-winning Tribeca Grill. His new restaurant, Trina, recently opened in the Atlantic hotel in Fort Lauderdale. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children.

JUDITH CHOATE is an award-winning writer, chef, and leader in the promotion of American food. A member of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, she is the author of more than twenty cookbooks and the co-author of a great many more. She works as a consultant to the food industry through her company, Custom Cuisine. Choate lives in New York City.

STEVE POOL is a New York—based photographer and writer with a special interest in documenting food in its natural setting. He and his wife, Judith Choate, routinely collaborate on book projects.