Last summer, Brian Hogan Stewart of the cookbook podcast \u201cSalt + Spine\u201d and Leslie Jonath, founder and principal of Connected Dots Media, were part of a trio that set out on a mission to bring cookbooks to life. The result was Cookbook Fest, a weekend in Napa that brought together some of the country\u2019s top authors to tell their stories and cook their hearts out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That Wine Country experiment ended up benefitting San Francisco: This year, the event\u00a0 has morphed into the more ambitious Cookbook Week (opens in new tab)<\/a> in the city, set for April 21 to 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n Billed as a festival of culinary storytelling, the event will bring more than 20 authors to town for collaborative dinners, free panels, baking pop-ups, and\u00a0a mainstage production called \u201cHeadnotes Live\u201d at the 600-seat Presidio Theater. That show \u2014 with more than 25 speakers, ranging from San Francisco-based food scientist Harold McGee to legendary pastry chef Christina Tosi \u2014\u00a0will be hosted by Michele Norris (opens in new tab)<\/a>, former host of NPR\u2019s \u201cAll Things Considered,\u201d who now has a beloved podcast called \u201cYour Mama\u2019s Kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s never been anything like it. It\u2019s going to be like Pop-Up Magazine meets \u2018The Moth\u2019 meets your favorite cookbook,\u201d said Jodi Liano, director of the festival. Tickets, which cost $85, will include a wine reception where authors will sign books and mingle with fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the founder of the celebrated, now-closed San Francisco Cooking School, Liano makes a logical partner to Stewart and Jonath. All three have deep food-industry Rolodexes, which is how Liano got one of the country\u2019s most popular cookbook authors \u2014 New York-based Alison Roman \u2014 to join the lineup. \u201cFor the collab dinners, we wanted to work with chefs who have iconic cookbooks themselves. So, I went to Brandon [Jew of Mister Jiu\u2019s] and asked him who he\u2019d be excited to cook with. I didn\u2019t expect the first person to come out of his mouth to be Alison Roman,\u201d Liano says. \u201cBut they cooked together at Quince, and they\u2019ve stayed friends ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n Roman\u2019s popularity might be eclipsed only by the endlessly energetic Tosi, of Milk Bar fame and her crazy-popular Bake Club (opens in new tab)<\/a>. For one morning only, Tosi will serve her legendary all-American treats at Graffeo Coffee in North Beach. Expect sugar-fueled mayhem.<\/p>\n Ominvore Books<\/a>, the tiny but mighty cookbook shop in Noe Valley, will function as ground zero for free talks that will, per usual, spill out to the sidewalk. There will be a panel on building a food brand, featuring Hetty McKinnon, Violet Witchel, Anna Voloshyna, and Colu Henry, as well as a conversation on queer voices, featuring John Birdsall, SF\u2019s own Soleil Ho, Justin Burke, and Jon Kung.<\/p>\n A multicultural \u201cNoodle Night\u201d will feature chefs David Nayfeld, Voloshyna, Nite Yun, and Arnold Myint at Che Fico. But the most meaningful of a five-part dinner series might be the one that kicks off the week: a tribute to Charles Phan, the Slanted Door chef who died early last year<\/a>. Tu David Phu of Gigi\u2019s<\/a>, the Vietnamese wine bar and restaurant in Nopa, and Dong Choi, chef de cuisine of the Slanted Door, will be cooking at Farming Hope, with proceeds benefitting the culinary training program at the San Francisco-based food justice nonprofit. <\/p>\n As to why celebrating cookbook authors live and in person is a good idea, Celia Sack, the owner of Omnivore, has thoughts. \u201cIn this era, cookbook authors aren\u2019t just home writing books behind closed doors any more. They\u2019re on social media, they\u2019re entertainers. They\u2019ve almost become like family members themselves,\u201d she says. \u201cAt our shop\u2019s book signings, one of my favorite parts is when people bring up an old cookbook that they\u2019ve had for years, full of Post-its and dog ears, and they\u2019ve cooked every single thing from it. The connection between the cookbook writer and their fan is instant and mutual. It\u2019s so joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n