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April's Author of the Month: RUTH REICHL

Tuesday, Apr 02, 2019 at 3:46pm

Ruth Reichl is an American chef, food writer, co-producer of PBS's Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS's Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth, and the last editor-in-chief of the now shuttered Gourmet magazine.

Reichl began writing about food in 1972, when she published Mmmmm: A Feastiary. Since then, she has authored the critically acclaimed, best-selling memoirs Tender at the BoneComfort Me with ApplesGarlic and Sapphires, and For You Mom, Finally, which have been translated into 18 languages. In 2014 she published her first novel: Delicious!

She is known for her ability to "make or break" a restaurant. For Reichl, her mission has been to "demystify the world of fine cuisine." She has won acclaim with both readers and writers alike for her honesty about many aspects of haute cuisine. Through an outsider's perspective, she harshly criticized the sexism prevalent toward women in dine-out experiences, as well as the pretentious nature of the ritziest New York restaurants.

Ruth Reichl spearheaded a revolution in the way we think about food. Here in Save Me the Plums, for the first time, she chronicles the personal and professional risks she took during her tenure as the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine in this insightful, inspiring and very readable new memoir. But this is not just the tale of a magazine; it is also a story about taking a professional leap of faith, following your passion and holding onto your dreams — even when nothing works out the way you’d expected. (Hardcover. $32.00. RRC Price $28.80. Random House. April)

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Save Me the Plums

- Ruth Reichl

Hardcover $32.00
Reader Reward Price: $28.80

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER o "A delicious insider account of the gritty, glamorous world of food culture."--Vanity Fair

In this "poignant and hilarious" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor in chief of Gourmet.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country

When Condé Nast offered Ruth Reichl the top position at America's oldest epicurean magazine, she declined. She was a writer, not a manager, and had no inclination to be anyone's boss. Yet Reichl had been reading Gourmet since she was eight; it had inspired her career. How could she say no?

This is the story of a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world and worrying about losing her soul. It is the story of the moment restaurants became an important part of popular culture, a time when the rise of the farm-to-table movement changed, forever, the way we eat. Readers will meet legendary chefs like David Chang and Eric Ripert, idiosyncratic writers like David Foster Wallace, and a colorful group of editors and art directors who, under Reichl's leadership, transformed stately Gourmet into a cutting-edge publication. This was the golden age of print media--the last spendthrift gasp before the Internet turned the magazine world upside down.

Complete with recipes, Save Me the Plums is a personal journey of a woman coming to terms with being in charge and making a mark, following a passion and holding on to her dreams--even when she ends up in a place she never expected to be.

Tender at the Bone

- Ruth Reichl

Trade paperback $29.99
Reader Reward Price: $26.99

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER o The debut memoir from the renowned author of Save Me the Plums, about the people who"steered her on the path to fulfill her destiny as one of the world's leading food writers" (Chicago Sun-Times).

"An absolute delight to read . . . How lucky we are that [Reichl] had the courage to follow her appetite."--Newsday

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir Tender at the Bone is the story of a life defined, determined, and enhanced in equal measure by a passion for food, by unforgettable people, and by the love of tales well told. 
 
Beginning with her mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and tastes, from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her first foie gras, to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley who championed the organic food revolution in the 1970s. 
 
Spiced with Reichl's infectious humor and sprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the Bone is a witty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist's coming-of-age. 

Featuring a special Afterword by the author and more than a dozen personal family photos

Comfort Me with Apples

- Ruth Reichl

Trade paperback $24.00
Reader Reward Price: $21.60

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER o In this beloved memoir from the author of Tender at the Bone, "Reichl writes with gusto, and her story has all the ingredients of a modern fairy tale: hard work, weird food, and endless curiosity" (The New Yorker).
 
"[Comfort Me with Apples] reminds you of a really great meal, well balanced and well seasoned, leaving you satisfied and wanting more."--New York
 
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly
 
Comfort Me with Apples recounts Ruth Reichl's transformation from chef to food writer, a process that led her through restaurants from Bangkok to Paris to Los Angeles and brought lessons in life, love, and food.
 
Her pursuit of good food and good company leads her to New York and China, France and Los Angeles, and her stories of cooking and dining with world-famous chefs range from the madcap to the sublime. Through it all, Reichl makes each and every course a hilarious and instructive occasion for novices and experts alike. She shares some of her favorite recipes while also sharing the intimacies of her personal life in a style so honest and warm that readers will feel they are enjoying a conversation over a meal with a friend.

Featuring a special Afterword by the author and more than a dozen personal family photos

Garlic and Sapphires

- Ruth Reichl

Trade paperback $25.00
Reader Reward Price: $22.50

Author of Save Me the Plums Ruth Reichl's iconic, bestselling memoir of her time as an undercover restaurant critic for The New York Times

"Expansive and funny." --Entertainment Weekly

Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and former editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be anonymous when reviewing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world--a charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. In Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl reveals the comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence to be found in the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world and gives us--along with some of her favorite recipes and reviews--her remarkable reflections on how one's outer appearance can influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites, not to mention the quality of service one receives.

"[A] wonderful book, which is funny--at times laugh-out-loud funny--and smart and wise." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post