The CulinaryWoman Newsletter, 6/27/21

Happy birthday to us!

Happy birthday to the CulinaryWoman Newsletter!

I launched it a year ago, aiming to bring readers interesting stories about the culinary industry, with a special focus on women.

CulinaryWoman is descended from two previous newsletters that you may have received: the Curbing Cars Newsletter, which looked at transportation and its intersection with the environment, and Melange, which was a newsletter that focused on my personal activities.

I’m truly grateful to those of you who have become members of the CulinaryWoman Community and founding members. I appreciate the enthusiasm and story shares from our free subscribers, too.

We don’t have a smash cake to mark our first anniversary, but we do have pie (and keep reading for a gift from me).

A Pie Activist Sits Down To Write

When we last heard from Beth Howard, she had recently returned to Iowa from Minneapolis, where she and other bakers distributed free pie to demonstrators who gathered to protest the death of George Floyd.

Since then, Beth has concentrated on finishing “World Piece,” a book about her pie-making trip around the world to promote goodwill. She tells me that she has a few literary agents looking at the book right now.

“It’s a worthy project — pie as a Trojan horse for peace — and the world needs its message of cultural understanding and kindness more than ever,” she writes.

Along with writing, Beth considered going back into the pie-selling business. You may know that she ran the Pitchfork Pie Stand at the American Gothic House, the subject of her book, Ms. American Pie.

She asked her Facebook friends whether she should rent a retail space a few steps from her house in Eldon, Iowa.

Ninety-five percent of the responses said, “Yes. GO FOR IT!” including one from her mother.

But another friend, who Beth says knows her better than anyone, replied, “ARE YOU CRAZY? You don’t want to be tied down.”

Other priorities (some pie, some not)

That reality check tipped the scales. “I’m a terrible businessperson; I suck at bookkeeping,” Beth wrote in a blog post.

“I want (and need) to travel; a year-round retail space would require me to stay put. The rent was very high for a rural town; I’m not prepared to take out loans or drain my savings. While my shop would bring people to town, the tourist season is short; it would be hard to sustain business (and pay rent) in the winter.”

Beyond that, Beth says, she suffers from seasonal affective disorder, or S.A.D., which afflicts a lot of us Midwesterners during dark, dreary winters. The only solution that works for her is to go south for a while.

And, that led her away from baking pie for customers.

The good news is that someday soon, we may see Beth’s work on television! She won a contest for a TV Pitch Workshop with Marta Kauffman. If you are a TV junkie, you’ll know the shows she’s created, including Friends and Grace and Frankie.

“I was always terrified of the script format, but after downloading the software and giving it a try, I discovered that I actually LIKE writing scripts!” Beth writes. “I wrote my first TV pilot, have a good start on the second episode, and have outlined five seasons of the story arc.”

Of course, the show is about pie, and would be a fictionalized account of life at the Pitchfork Pie Stand. It hasn’t been picked up yet, but keep your fingers crossed for the future.

We wish Beth tons of luck with her latest memoir. As soon as it’s finished baking, you’ll hear about it here. You can keep up with Beth on her blog and on her social media.

Speaking of books, may I have a drumroll, please?

I’m delighted to unveil the cover of my upcoming book on Zingerman’s! Satisfaction Guaranteed: How Zingerman’s Built A Corner Deli Into A Global Food Community will be published by Charles Scribner’s Sons on March 1.

Catalogs went out to booksellers this weekend, and I wanted to give you a first look at the cover before I feature it on my website and social media.

Anyone who’s been to Ann Arbor will recognize this illustration of the iconic Zingerman’s Deli on Detroit Street. If you look in the doorway, you’ll see Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s co-founders.

Satisfaction Guaranteed will be available for pre-orders later this year. Pre-orders have become a vital tool in launching a book. With so many titles competing for readers’ attention, publishers want books to get off to a strong start.

I’ll be back soon with information on how you can order the book. In the meantime, if you are excited about it, and think people where you live will enjoy it, tell your favorite bookstore about it, and ask them to get in some copies.

I appreciate your help in making Satisfaction Guaranteed a success!

Thinking of Anthony Bourdain on Bourdain Day

The culinary world lost Anthony Bourdain to suicide in June, 2018. Rather than commemorate his death, many of his friends celebrate his birthday each year, instead.

Last Friday, the hashtag #BourdainDay popped up across Instagram and other social media sites, with photos, video clips and remembrances of the chef, writer and television host.

It prompted me to think about the people in my world who Tony had touched. He came to Ann Arbor to visit Monahan’s Fish Market, and left with one of the store’s t-shirts, designed by owner Mike Monahan, which you can see him wearing above.

My friend Louisa Chu, recently named co-restaurant critic at the Chicago Tribune, and one of our CulinaryWomen of the Week, worked with Tony in Paris.

Through him, I was introduced to Al-Ameer in Dearborn, Mich., the Middle Eastern restaurant that was named an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation. I also visited West Side Market in Cleveland because of his recommendation.

Of course, Tony was great friends with Eric Ripert, the three-star Michelin chef who was traveling with him when he died (you’ll remember that I just recommended his new cookbook on vegetables).

Since Tony’s death, there’s been an outpouring of appreciation for him that proves his indelible mark on the culinary world. I hope he realized just how much he meant, and continues to mean to his admirers.

Sending Love To The Rosenthals

Over the years, fans of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix have been treated to time with Phil Rosenthal’s parents, Helen and Max. Appearing via Skype, and occasionally in person, their acerbic observations and Max’s jokes were a highlight of each episode.

Sadly, Helen died in October, 2019, and Phil announced on Sunday that Max died this weekend.

Sending love to all the Rosenthals. May Max’s memory be a blessing. Thankfully, Helen and Max stay with us through the magic of video, as do the absent friends Phil has featured on his show.

Last week, Somebody Feed Phil was renewed for a fifth season with 10 episodes, so hopefully we will be seeing Max a few last times.

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CulinaryWoman will take off the Fourth of July holiday next week (I know, it’s next week already!). We’ll see you back here on July 11 to kick off our second year of culinary news.