Rick Simonson

Ready, Sit, Go
December 10, 2007

'Tis the season it is, which on the retail end of things means more time on the feet than ever. Nevertheless, some first-week-of-December confluence of occasions brought some sitting down for more extended periods than will be the case a week or two hence (except when sales are being worked off of computer terminals).

Occasion number one was a midday gathering at Seattle's renowned Harvest Vine, a tucked away neighborhood restaurant - we're talking destination place, it's one of a handful of places that Jim Harrison and others of similarly keen eye check up on when they're in town -  with a tucked-away ambience within it: walk in and there's a bar, small seating area, and vast, open kitchen. Work your way back, and there is a little winding stairway. Down that and you are in a cellar lined with wine, stonework, and open daylight. The hill it's perched on gives its cellar some sky. The reason people are gathered - 25 or so - at an hour Harvest Vine isn't usually open, is to promote Phaidon's US publication of the Spanish 'standard' of cookbooks, the  big 1080 Recipes, by Simone and Ines Ortega  Harvest Vine is the perfect place: chef and propietor Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, a Madrid native, would say he grew up with this book in its original version.

To my surprise there are no other book colleagues here: not the University Bookstore's Stesha Brandon (who has been, is, and will always be, a 'foodie'), not Third Place's Robert Sindelar - both among those much more conversant in the 'other' (to me) language that can be food and drink. Most of those on hand are speaking that language - food bloggers, distributors, a chef or two from other restaurants, various others whose work it is to make or find the buzz. Part of that language was talking of where they would be that evening. This was only midday, after all. I started feeling twinges of envy: we who traffic in books do get our books and reading copies and the occasional meal. But with the food and wine blogsters, it's unending; it's food and drink as the matter of course things, with books here and there added along. I did, before feeling too 'sorry' for myself, catch myself, remembering that I indeed had such an evening in store, even as they were talking of tracking down this new spot, or paying a second visit to some other.

Before moving the day along, to report, novice at this world that I am, that served most deliciously (all of it) from 1080 Recipes were: from recipe 33, 'Pinchos de Datiles y Bacon Fritos' (fried date and bacon rolls); #50, 'Empanada Gallega' (galician pie); and #52, 'Pan de Molde con Gambas y Bechamel' (shrimp and bechamel toast) all as a first course. Next was #133, 'Porrusalda' (potato, cod and leek soup). Then arriving in bowls, served and taken family style: #523, 'Tortilla de Patatas a la Espanola' (Spanish potato omelet); #17, 'Pulpo con Pimenton' (octopus with paprika); #470, 'Champinones al Ajillo; (garlic mushrooms), #270, 'Macarrones con Chorizo y Tomate' (not the macaroni I grew up with ....); and #620, 'Rape en salsa Americana' (American-style monkfish with tomatoes, cognac and white wine).

I did have to leave before #952, 'Bizcocho con Creama de Naranja' (sponge cake with orange cream) was served, and no doubt some last refills of the wine glasses which never seemed to empty. (Did I leave out that before all of this, when it was mingling, there was some kind of sherry and bread dipped in various Spanish olive oils?).

For a few afternoon hours, I kept myself moving ... it was December, yes, a little bit of daylight, and then the early darkness. I don't know if anyone could tell what I'd been up to with my midday 'meeting,' but think I did make change correctly while working the counter ...

Come evening, it was a gathering I was on more familiar ground with: the literary author pre-tour tour. In this case, it was the Seattle return of Manil Suri. Seven years after his wondrous debut, The Death of Vishnu, Norton and he are back with an ambitious, wide-ranging new novel, The Age of Shiva. Sometimes these dinners come months before publication; this one, interestingly, was a mere month or so before the book is out. Some pre-tour travels this fall were affected by his ongoing teaching schedule as a professor of math at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Then there is the matter of where he travels when he does travel; if I recall correctly, he was making two West Coast dinner stops on this jaunt (Los Angeles, with bookseller friends there, and this Seattle night), then was going home, then had India to visit, then his US tour, then England, then many other countries, surely. He does have next term off from teaching, not that he's getting a break by any great measure. It's the seminars on Shiva ...

For this dinner, at Ponti's Seafood Grill (I could say I've heard of it, but would also say my not having been there before was revealed in first attempting to enter the funeral home next door, all lit up as if for some great party ...), Norton rep Dan Christiaens and significant other Pamela (a guiding hand, to be sure) did a lovely job of hosting with those on hand coming from the University Bookstore, Third Place, Queen Anne, Secret Garden, and Elliott Bay. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's John Marshall was there, as was Shelf Awareness' wonderful Marilyn Dahl. The surprise of the night was seeing Norton sales and marketing guiding light Bill Rusin standing there when I arrived. There are dim and distant memories of him in Seattle visits, and I believe him when he says he gets out (Amazon's presence means most everyone gets here sooner or later), but when- and however, it's never been as relaxed and leisurely as it will be this evening.

In Bill's words, Manil Suri is pushing the envelope with the new book. It's a leap in range,span, time and place - back and forth across India in the time after the strife of partition. Most all the narrative is carried by a woman - as young girl, young bride, mother, widow, survivor. It's quite a voice. And some of where it goes will surely stir talk: there is some powerful ruminating on the mother-son relationship, ties that here are stronger than with any suitor or husband. It's written of carefully, powerfully, and subtly ... but also provocatively. It will be one of the pleasures of the new year to put into people's hands.

The food and drink of the evening were all delicious, but the raison d'etre was the talk of books, reading, and the particulars of Manil Suri, his writing (and teaching), and The Age of Shiva. Since Bill Rusin was on hand, he gave the brief remarks, speaking to Norton's excitement about the book, its ambitiousness, and more. 

Posted by Rick Simonson on December 10, 2007 | Comments (0)