John Birdsall

"The definitive biography of America's best-known and least understood food personality, and the modern culinary landscape he shaped. After World War II, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties synonymous with the...

"You may not realize that Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group living in the United States, especially when you compare the number of, say, Japanese, Thai, and Korean restaurants to Filipino ones. There's a lot of speculation about why Filipino food hasn't taken off the way other Asian cuisines have, but one thing's for sure: there's something for everyone here. Lauded as the next big thing by the likes of Anthony Bourdain...