It\u2019s 1776 and you want to go to the hottest spot in town.<\/p>\n
That would be the City Tavern<\/a> in Philadelphia, the place where the Founding Fathers and many other revolutionaries met to make plans and exchange ideas, all while dining on some of the finest food the area had to offer and washing it down with the best beer available.<\/p>\n Yardley resident Becky Libourel Diamond<\/a>\u2019s latest book, ‘City Tavern: The Founding Table-Colonial Dining, Revolutionary History, and the Restaurant at the Center of It All,’<\/a> takes a look at this critical time in American history and the tavern\u2019s role in it.<\/p>\n It is Diamond\u2019s fifth book and the third to be published by Westholme Publishing<\/a>, an independent publisher of nonfiction trade books helmed by another Yardley resident, Bruce Hampton Franklin.<\/p>\n Her previous two books were cookbooks, and her most recent was ‘The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook.’<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more similar to my first two books,\u201d Diamond said. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a culinary history, not a cookbook. It\u2019s focused on taking one location and looking through that lens to see its impact throughout the pre-Revolution, the Revolution and the founding of our nation, and the City Tavern was integral to all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The inspiration for the book came from the former chef-owner of the City Tavern, Chef Walter Staib, who wrote the foreword to the book.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been friends for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cHe had all this documentation and wanted a history of how important City Tavern was to the birth of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n A taste of history<\/p>\n With America celebrating its 250th anniversary<\/a> this year, the timing couldn\u2019t have been better.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to write quickly, so I was on pretty strict deadlines, but I really wanted the book to be published this year because of that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lot of fun to do. I learned a lot. I love food history; I just found this niche. Typically, I\u2019m focused on the 19th century. I find that really interesting because there were so many innovations, but this is before the 18th century, so it\u2019s out of my usual time frame, so I had to learn a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n City Tavern, which is several blocks from Independence Hall<\/a>, was an important political and social meeting place. When the Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, it was designated as a neutral spot where delegates could connect, solicit opinions and offer off-the-record thoughts and solutions.<\/p>\n This important role continued throughout the Revolution and beyond.<\/p>\n The book begins with 1772 and reviews all the major events that happened there, as well as highlighting some famous patrons. John Adams called it “the most genteel tavern in America,” while George Washington briefly used it as his headquarters, and many of the Founding Fathers dined there.<\/p>\n The original building survived a fire in 1834 but was razed in 1854. The National Park Service rebuilt the tavern for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. Staib became the proprietor and served historically authentic dishes.<\/p>\n Staib is now retired, but the City Tavern is still open for business.<\/p>\n Inspiration close to home<\/p>\n Diamond moved to Yardley from New Jersey in 2008 and immediately fell in love with the picturesque town.<\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely love the fact that it\u2019s such a close distance from so many great places like Philadelphia, New York, the beach and Princeton,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s so beautiful. Actually, all of Bucks County is beautiful, but Yardley is just gorgeous.<\/p>\n \u201cI love our neighborhood. It\u2019s very communal. We do a lot of fun events, and there\u2019s a lot of support and camaraderie. I can\u2019t imagine living anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution<\/a>, she appreciates Yardley\u2019s past.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t realize until I moved here that Yardley<\/a> is so rich in history,\u201d she said. \u201cI came from South Jersey, so I was very familiar with everything that happened there, but there are some amazing things that happened here, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d always been familiar with places like New Hope, but now to live so close to things like Washington’s Crossing<\/a> is so neat, especially this year and with the book coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n She lives with her husband, Joe, a franchise owner of Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers in Fairless Hills<\/a>, a physical therapy practice; son Patrick, a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh who will begin graduate school at Temple University in the fall to study architecture; and daughter Cate, a Temple alumna who is getting a master\u2019s degree in nutrition at Jefferson.<\/p>\n Diamond has a master\u2019s degree in business from Rutgers, where she is a librarian.<\/p>\n Looking ahead<\/p>\n As for upcoming projects, she has a list.<\/p>\n \u201cNext, I\u2019m going to do a cookbook based on Edith Wharton\u2019s recipe collections from the early 1900s,\u201d she said. \u201cA descendant with her recipe book reached out to me. I want to show how her life changed moving through time and locations.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d also like to write a Gilded Age tea book to round out that trilogy of cookbooks, and Biltmore has reached out to me to update their cookbook, so I have some nice things to look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘City Tavern: The Founding Table-Colonial Dining, Revolutionary History, and the Restaurant at the Center of It All’ is slated for release on Aug. 21 and can be preordered at most booksellers.<\/p>\n Her other non-cookbooks are ‘Mrs. Goodfellow,’ which is the story of America\u2019s first cooking school, and ‘The Thousand Dollar Dinner,’ the tale of one luxurious dinner in 1851.<\/p>\n Her cookbooks are ‘The Gilded Age Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from America\u2019s Golden Era’ and ‘The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Cookies and Treats from America\u2019s Golden Era<\/a>.’<\/p>\n For more information, visit beckyldiamond.com<\/a><\/p>\n