What We’re Looking Forward To: 2008's Most Exciting Cookbook Deals

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 12/28/2008 10:15:00 AM

Among the most interesting book deals of 2008 were a cookbook by a rap star, a guide to cocktails from one of the country’s most high-profile restaurateurs, a new offer from one of America’s favorite food writers, and a gimmicky-themed book that just might work. Here are 10 books we’re looking forward to in the months to come:

Most Outrageous Cookbook

Rapper Coolio already has an Internet cooking show, so why not a cookbook? In July, Amy Tannenbaum at Atria won world rights to Cookin’ with Coolio, a collection of 75 recipes “built around comfort foods with a healthy twist,” in a deal brokered by Marc Gerald of The Agency Group.

The Restaurant to Home Bar Adaptation We Can’t Wait For

This spring, Little, Brown will publish New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Mix Shake Stir: Recipes for the Home Bar. The book will feature cocktails from the bartenders at Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Blue Smoke, The Modern and Meyer’s other establishments. Note to Michael Sand: we’d love to see a recipe for the concord grape-and-vodka cocktail Gramercy Tavern served last fall, the Concord Crush.

Most Promising Foodie Fiction

Susan Gilbert-Collins sold her debut novel, Cooking with the Insecure Chef, to Trish Lande Grader at Touchstone Fireside. Publishers Lunch says the book is about a young woman who returns home after her mother’s sudden death. There, she pieces together the last issue of her mother’s mail-order cooking newsletter while she tries to “cook up” a whole new life.

Niche Cookbook We’re Excited About

We’re suckers for homemade pizza (DK’s Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas was one of our favorite cookbooks of ’08), so we’re looking forward to James Fraioli and Leonardo Curti’s The Trattoria Grappolo Pizza Cookbook, which will include recipes for pizzas, along with wine pairings. Gibbs Smith will publish later this year.

Book Our Sweet Tooth is Anticipating

Dylan’s Candy Bar is on our top 10 list of favorite NYC stores, and it’s about time the proprietor—and daughter of designer Ralph—wrote a book. Aliza Fogelson at Clarkson Potter won Dylan’s Candy Bar Book at auction. In 2010, keep an eye out for the celebration of sweets, with games, recipes and trivia.

Most Promising Gimmick

Cathy Erway’s blog, NotEatingOutInNY.com, scored her a book deal last spring. Not Eating Out in New York: A Year of Cooking at Home in a Tiny Brooklyn Kitchen, which Jessica Sindler at Gotham bought at auction, will include recipes and Erway’s reasons for not eating out. Says the author, “[the book] will hopefully serve a manifesto for a new generation of conscientious and avid home cooks.”

Most Highly-Anticipated Return

Anthony Bourdain is back with Cooks, a long-awaited follow-up to the bestselling Kitchen Confidential. Bourdain promises to address how the restaurant industry and its denizens have changed (if at all) since he arrived on the scene. As usual, Bourdain will also offer warts-and-all observations on the food biz.

Most Intriguing Food Politics Deal

Ben Hewitt checks out the local food in Hardwick, Vt., in The Town That Food Saved: How One Rural Community Found Vitality in Local Food, which Rodale has rights to. Apparently the town of approximately 3,000 has developed a unique local food system in recent years.

Deal Most Likely to Get Jessica Seinfeld’s Attention

Missy Chase Lapine—author of The Sneaky Chef, who sparred with Jessica Seinfeld regarding the uncanny similarities between her book and Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious—has sold a follow-up, The Sneaky Chef to the Rescue, to Jennifer Kasius at Running Press, which published Sneaky Chef.

Foodie Memoir with Film Potential

Stacy Creamer at Broadway bought the rights to former Hollywood executive Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Confections of a Closet Master Baker. Bullock-Prado writes of her sugar-obsessed childhood, career in Hollywood running her sister’s production company, and why and how she ditched it all to open a bakery in Vermont.

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