Confessions of a Serial Entertainer - It’s NOT Me!

When I met Steven Stolman several years ago at Scalamandré, he could not have been more charming and lovely. He’d just published Scalamandré Haute Décor and I devoured every inch of this gorgeous book. You can read my thoughts here.

When I heard that he had two more books in the production line, I was gleefully anticipating them. The first, Confessions of A Serial Entertainer is the story of his entertaining exploits for the past 30+ years. His memories of his parents’ parties when he was growing up mirror my own, except for the kosher part of it. The recipes he showcases in this book are all familiar to me. And best of all, most of them are fairly simple to make – just four or five ingredients that most of us have in the kitchen.

The photography is just gorgeous, beautifully lit and elegantly done. And I love the line drawings that are scattered throughout the book.

I like this book because it tells the stories behind some of the meals and then it gives the recipes. As I said, most a pretty simple, so it’s going to be a book that I use a lot for my cooking. While I CAN cook, I mostly choose not to, unless people are coming over, and when they do, I’d rather be spending time with them than being stuck in the kitchen.

For one of Steven’s more complicated recipes, Chicken Provençal, and the story behind it, check out this article in the New York Times Magazine.

Oh, I mentioned that Steven has two books in publication – the other is Forty Years of Fabulous, the history of the Kips Bay Show-house in NYC, and I will be heading up to New York for a launch party for it next month. Stay tuned.