Urban Italian
Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food
Andrew Carmellini with Gwen Hyman
Bloomsbury USA

Reviewing a cookbook is new territory for Cool Cleveland but rest assured, once you delve into the luxurious recipes and bold sincerity of Seven Hills / Shaker Heights expat Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian, you'll understand the reasoning. Hard-to-please gastronomists like Anthony Bourdain and Cleveland's own Michael Ruhlman are raving about this "creative yet accessible" book "written with a candor and bravado." Who could argue? Food for the soul is what gets many Clevelanders through those tough winter months; to wit, Carmellini's approach to Italian is Cleveland-hearty -- robust and rustic, yet undeniably urbane.

Some of you might be thinking, "pasta and sauce, ho-hum." Think again. Think Black Bass with Sicilian-style Pesto. Think Marinated Beets with Grapefruit, Pistachios and Goat Cheese. Think savory Lamb Ragu. Roasted Fennel with Orange and Sambuca. Summer Melon with Feta, Basil and Cucumber. Grilled Radicchio with Thyme and Peccorino. His recipes are exquisite, effortless to prepare and anything but ordinary. And his book is hard to put down because, aside from being an intuitive cook, he's an entertaining writer. You'll only do so briefly... to head to the West Side Market for your ingredients.

Peppered with interstitials about Italian regions, native ingredients, the chef's witty culinary narratives and precise "how-to" diagramming, Urban Italian is a vibrant tour de force. Carmellini doesn't preach to the reader, nor does he expect them to have the kind of set-up he has at his New York restaurant A Voce. This is simple, confident and amusing instruction with intrigue that's not hard on the brain, eyes or -- at the end -- the palate. And that, my friends, doesn't suck. We're not saying to bag the traditional C-town pork-and-sauerkraut for New Year's... but damn, if that Roast Pork with Italian Plums and Grappa isn't the perfect dish to usher in 2009, then I don't know what is.

Andrew Carmellini offers a demonstration and book signing at the Fabulous Food Show at the I-X Center this Friday, November 14 at 12:30PM. He'll appear at the Culinary Celebration Theatre. Learn more about Carmellini by clicking here. For details on the Fabulous Food Show, visit http://www.fabulousfoodshow.com.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com
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