All the Dish from the Front Lines

No less a personage than world-famous chef Paul Bocuse has deemed it "the best cooking school in the world." Located in Hyde Park, N.Y., The Culinary Institute of America has produced many of the most famous chefs and bakers in the world. Its 30,000 graduates since its inception influence not only the foods we eat but the cookbooks we find on booksellers' shelves.

This year, changes are underway that will soon be reflected in restaurants and bookstores throughout America. The Institute's curriculum, reports senior cookbook editor Mary Donovan, has been revised to include a stronger emphasis in three areas: American cuisine (including Central and South America), regional Italian and an expanded course of study on Asian cuisine that will focus on regional cooking and such new additions as the Philippines and Pacific Rim countries.

And while Donovan notes that more students and graduates are turning to baking and pastry, she also sees one area in which interest is fading. "There's less emphasis on narrowly defined healthy cooking—it's simply become part and parcel of the way we now cook."

The way we cook, of course, is strongly tied to the cookbooks we buy. To assess what's selling these days—and what changes have occurred in the marketplace, PW talked with a number of retailers about what's hot and what's not.

For Susan Crittenden, manager of Powell's Books for Cooks and Gardeners in Portland, Ore., seasonal is what's currently on the front burner—grilling and ice cream books. Year-round, Powell's stocks a large variety of ethnic cookbooks and consistently does well with Indian and Japanese titles. Sales of vegan, vegetarian and raw food cookbooks have seen "a notable increase," due in part to walk-in traffic from the store's animal-friendly neighborhood. And while the barbecue section "does terrific business," Crittenden reports that "our meat section is dead in the water." At Dutton's Brentwood in L.A., Nancy Rudolph buys for a clientele she describes as "exceptionally affluent, widely traveled and quickly sated." While Italian has been the top seller for the last 10 years, Rudolph notes increasing sales of vegetarian titles to "a sizable contingent of faux vegetarians—private ascetics/party carnivores or vice versa. And as the store's core clientele is now contending with the New Menopause, tofu cookbooks have emerged from their New Age niche."

"Chefs in general are selling like crazy," says Ellen Rose, owner of L.A.'s Cook's Library, "and they're doing second and third books that are also selling well." Rose makes certain to keep a wide selection of titles on soy and tofu for her California-healthy clientele and reports that other bestsellers include Italian ("people like that it uses so many fresh ingredients") and breads. At New York City's Kitchen Arts & Letters, which caters to a well traveled mix of food professionals and knowledgeable amateur cooks, new titles by chefs throughout the world are top sellers. In the words of owner Nach Waxman, "Our customers want books that are fresh and imaginative; they use recipes as a source of ideas, as a way to stimulate their imaginations." Waxman also sees sales of books on Asian cooking—particularly Japanese and Southeast Asian—on the rise and Southern Indian "really catching fire; they're introducing a whole new range of ingredients."

Local is best at Beaucoup Books in New Orleans, says manager Rachel Carner. The store has a section devoted entirely to regional and local titles, including a bestselling selection of Junior League cookbooks from throughout Louisiana. Book-for-Cooks.com, too, reports success with Junior League cookbooks. Titles from across the country "have always been a big part of our business," says v-p Marsha Berman. "People love to collect them." Also doing well at this online location are professional books used by chefs and caterers and international titles, with Italian and French leading the way and Portuguese and Scottish acquiring a growing following. At The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Ill., Junior League cookbooks from Denver, San Francisco and, of course, Chicago, are winners. "These are recipes that people have already tried and used when they've entertained," says buyer Lynn Stuertz. "They are the crème de la crème of recipes from that particular city." The Book Stall also sees a continuing taste for all things Italian and does a thriving business in cookbooks for gifts.

Shattering the myth that Southerners want their food deep-fried and smothered in barbecue sauce, buyer Frazer Dobson reports that healthy low-fat cookbooks are top sellers at Chapter 11 Books' 13 stores in greater Atlanta. Dobson also reports on the disparate buying habits of in-town and suburban customers, with city dwellers buying more vegetarian cookbooks while suburbanites opt for celebrity and diet cookbooks. At Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., healthy cooking, vegetarian titles and the cuisines of Italy and France are steady sellers, reports cookbook buyer Polly Gorder. This summer, as in the past, barbecue books are heating up sales at Jessica'sBiscuit/Ecookbooks (www.jessicasbiscuit.com), says founder David Stymish. Keeping pace are Italian, Chinese and baking titles as well as two smaller but always successful categories—culinary award winners and books on kitchen science.

Although Americans are embracing a wide variety of foods and cuisines, consumers seem to be relegating some longtime favorites to the back burner. The Sugar Buster Diet was created in New Orleans and Beaucoup's Carner has seen a resulting drop in sales of books about bread-making and pasta. And in health-conscious Portland, Crittenden at Powell's reports, "People are shying away from carbohydrates; we aren't selling as many books on baking or bread. It's not like the bottom's dropped out, but it's slowed. One trend that's definitely ending, however, is pasta." The Book Stall also reports "minimal" sales of books on baking and breads and, says Stuertz, sales of low-fat cookbooks are "fading. Our customers come in to buy cookbooks, not something with reduced fat or sugar." And at Cook's Library, French food has been guillotined by customers. "It doesn't sell at all," says Rose. "It's so connected with sauces, and that's not the way people like to eat or cook anymore."

With cookbook sections nowadays boasting enough variety to rival a "foods from around the world" buffet at a Vegas hotel, can there ever be too much of a good thing—or not enough?

"There's too much on Tuscany," says Waxman at Kitchen Arts & Letters, "and too many books on the Mediterranean in general." He's given up counting the number of series books being offered and would happily bid good-bye to "once-over-lightly, single-subject books that are filled with visual and culinary clichés." Carner finds an excess of general cookbooks: "you only need one or two in your home library." And although healthy eating leads the way at Chapter 11, Dobson does find that the shelves are sagging under their numbers. Book Passage's Gorder jokes that she often wonders where she'll find room for another season of Italian cookbooks, while Rose of Cook's Library bemoans "a plethora of healthy cooking books." But for Books-for-Cooks.com's Berman, more is good—"I think people love trying new things."

Rose has a well-thought-out list of what she believes publishers need to add to their rosters: more how-to books with photographs, cookbooks for children, books on slow cooking and pressure cooking, and books on Latin America. Waxman couldn't agree more, citing a lack of titles on Central American countries like Belize and Costa Rica and few books specific to the foods of South America.

Carner keeps it simple, asking only for good basic cookbooks—with spiral bindings. Crittenden at Powell's wants to see "more good books on salads—we only have one shelf and 90% of that is used." But Dobson is "pretty satisfied with the mix that I've seen for this fall. Our stores carry a wide variety of titles and our customers can almost always find what they need."

While most authors arrive for signings carrying only a hopeful smile and a well-practiced "thank you for coming, enjoy the book," cookbook authors often arrive bearing food, glorious food—plates of tapas, trays of cookies, etc. Some booksellers don't even wait for authors to arrive, whipping up samples from newly published titles to share with other staffers and lucky customers. When it comes to promotion, retailers' ideas are as varied and imaginative as the cookbooks they sell.

Cook's Library takes visiting authors to the Green Market held each Sunday in Hollywood. "It provides such a connection between food and the cookbook authors," says Rose. "We get a table for the morning and bring in authors like Marcella Hazan. People walk by, then come back asking 'is it really you?' They can't believe it." The Cook's Library is not the only retailer to take signings on the road. The Book Stall, reports Stuertz, has produced signings at a local Italian food market and the nearby Botanic Gardens and has hosted a series of successful luncheon/signings at a local restaurant.

For the last six years, Book Passage has hosted a "Cooks with Books" series. Ticket-holders gather at the Left Bank Restaurant in nearby Larkspur for a seated dinner (with placecards, no less) prepared from the particular book by the restaurant's chef. Dinner is followed by a discussion with the author. The dinners, reports director of classes Marguerita Castanera, have attracted as many as 90 guests, and their success has led Castanera to plan several luncheon events for the fall.

Beaucoup Books takes advantage of its big windows for at least three seasonal displays devoted to cookbooks—"Too Hot to Cook" in the summer, local cookbooks in the spring and a holiday window featuring seasonal and new gift cookbooks. Signings, says Carner, tend to feature local authors—"New Orleanians love to read about themselves and support local authors."

It's advance information, not author signings or special events, that customers count on from the staff at Kitchen Arts & Letters. To satisfy this need to know, the store always has a brimming carton of galleys available for reading or browsing. At Dutton's Brentwood, says Rudolph, "our 'merchandising' is expertise—backed by a deep selection of front- and backlist titles, seasonal/topical displays and an opinionated staff." While Rudolph notes that the store's catered celebrity chef signings are "consistently jammed, they stimulate appetites more than sales." Rudolph credits coverage on NPR with being a "direct stimulus for sales" and print exposure in food magazines and the Los Angeles Times and New York Times as guaranteeing a "vigorous response."

Just like sports and gardening, cooking now has its very own channel—the Food Network. Seen in some 59 million households, it's home to superstar chef/authors such as Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay and Mario Batali. But does this high visibility translate into book sales?

"Television chefery is entertainment," says Waxman at Kitchen Arts & Letters. "It's not to learn from or to use—it's like watching a sporting event. We do keep minimal numbers of their books in stock, but they're just not what our customers ask for." While Cook's Library's Rose sees TV chefs having an impact on the market in general, her customers, like Waxman's, are not star-struck. "We always keep one or two titles in stock, but that's not what our clientele wants." Across town at Dutton's, Rudolph sees Food TV as reinforcing familiarity with already well-known personalities but having little impact on sales.

"We'll sell anything that's on TV," says Jessica's Biscuit's Stymish, "but simply being on TV doesn't guarantee a bestseller. People have now seen so much that they don't just run out and buy the book." Even in New Orleans, hometown of Emeril, the king of TV chefs, Beaucoup's Carner has not seen a corresponding bump in sales. "Most shows make it so easy to write in for recipes, people don't have to buy the books." According to Berman at Books-for-Cooks.com, "Emeril did the most. He was very entertaining and he got everyone excited about his books—but not everyone can do that. I think customers are more interested in a certain cuisine or cooking for a holiday or special event; that draws more than seeing someone cooking on TV."

But Chapter 11's Dobson reports that Food Network's arrival in the Atlanta market has produced a spike in sales. "I think the Food Network will continue to make more stars and we'll continue to sell a lot of their books."

Americans' waistlines may be expanding at an alarming rate, but if the predictions of many booksellers come true, we are about to become a nation of healthy eaters.

Kitchen Arts & Letters' Waxman forecasts a "definite movement to more and more meatless books for people who don't necessarily identify themselves as vegetarians, and an increasing interest in simplicity—an emphasis on cooking based on elementary ingredients handled in an elemental way." Carner at Beaucoup Books believes that "people will be eating more well-rounded meals. They'll continue to want good, easy books on stylish entertaining." Dobson shares a similar viewpoint: "People are trying to eat healthy but realizing that they don't have to sacrifice taste to do it." Dobson also notes that with a rise in the number of ethnic markets, customers can now find the ingredients they need to try "more adventurous and complicated cuisines."

Books-for-Cooks.com's Berman offers the seemingly contradictory opinion that big sales are on the way for titles on healthy cooking and books on chocolate. "People really are looking for healthier ways of eating, but they don't want to give up their sinful, decadent habits." The likely winner? Berman envisions a future of blissful coexistence. Book Passage's Gorder also sees a "continued interest in healthy cooking—the more we know, the harder it is to enjoy all that rich food."

At Dutton's Brentwood, Rudolph foresees a demand for "dramatically photographed, sophisticated food styling and clear Cook's Illustrated–quality technical illustrations, clarity of page design and typeface, and recipe layout limited to a single page." Stymish of Jessica's Biscuit forecasts a trend toward "artisan cooks. Forget about quick and easy, customers want to know what's the best bread in the world and how does the baker/chef create it?" For Cook's Library's Rose, it's "books with fewer ingredients, much less complicated."

One thing's for sure: everybody needs to eat, and—until we can ape the astronauts and pop steak-dinner pills—it looks as though the cookbook business will follow the latest trends through whatever waistlands they may lead.