Barron's is making a big push for a new cookbook author this fall: Bobby Chinn, whose debut cookbook, Wild, Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam, pubbed last month with a 35,000-copy first printing. The combined forces of Barron's and publicity firm YC Media have already landed Chinn on The Martha Stewart Show, and while Chinn lives in Vietnam, he's on his way to becoming an international celebrity chef and author.
Although Barron's publicity manager Steve Matteo said the book is not that much of a departure for the house (it follows in Barron's tradition of publishing personalities like Indian actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey and Sesame Street star Bob McGrath), Wild, Wild East looks poised for a breakout. Barron's is pouring resources into the book, which originally pubbed in the U.K. with Conran Octopus a year ago (Conran sold North American rights to Barron's at Frankfurt last year; Barron's is simultaneously publishing the book in Canada). On a visit to the U.S. in September, Chinn filmed a segment for Martha that aired October 2, and also made an appearance on ABC's View from the Bay. Print coverage is scheduled for Bon Appétit and Time, and online coverage is planned or has already run on CoolHunting.com, SeriousEats.com and CNN .com. Additionally, Chinn will appear on WOR's Food Talk with Mike Colameco.
Chinn is a chef, restaurant owner (of Restaurant Bobby Chinn, in Hanoi) and TV host (though his shows do not currently air in the U.S.), with endorsements from Anthony Bourdain and the New York Times. He calls himself “an ethnic mutt: half Egyptian, half Chinese, born in New Zealand, educated primarily in England, with a sense that San Francisco was home.” His book matches recipes with hundreds of photographs and miniessays about cooking and life in Vietnam.
