David Tanis cookbook has made it past the first two rounds
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Tuesday, November 30, $38, 7:00
212-415-5500
www.92ytribeca.org
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/136148
The blog explosion has led to a surfeit of sites dedicated to food and drink, for everyone from elegant gourmet groupies to just plain meat-and-potatoes burger-lovin’ folk. One such site, food52, run by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, focuses on home cooking. “We love spending time in the kitchen,” they explain online, “and we believe that memorable cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or precious.” On November 30, Hesser and Stubbs will be joined by food writer Charlotte Druckman as hosts of the Piglet Party, celebrating the second annual Tournament of Cookbooks. Since November 9, sixteen cookbooks have been battling it out in a bracketed competition judged by such experts as Ezra Klein, Peter Kaminsky, Ree Drummond, Susan Orlean, Francis Lam, and Mario Batali. In round one, Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark’s THE PERFECT FINISH beat Kate Moses’s CAKEWALK before losing to Kim Boyce and Amy Scattergood’s GOOD TO THE GRAIN in round two, while David Tanis’s HEART OF THE ARTICHOKE has made it past Katie Caldesi’s COOK ITALY and Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, and Peter Meehan’s FRANKIES. Also surviving the first two rounds is Dorie Greenspan’s AROUND MY FRENCH TABLE, having disposed of Darnia Allen’s FORGOTTEN SKILLS OF COOKING and Sarah Marx Feldner’s A COOK’S JOURNEY. Winners are announced every Wednesday, with the champion being crowned on December 1, so everyone will party at 92YTribeca the night before, with food supplied by such local vendors as Van Leeuwen, June Taylor, Mexicue, Liddabit Sweets, Rick’s Picks, and Theo Peck, wine from Hanna Winery, and beer from Kelso of Brooklyn. And Frank Bruni, Chris Cosentino, Ben Leventhal, and Falcinelli will participate in a panel discussion on food porn. Tickets are $38, with $5 going to the nonprofit organization Wellness in the Schools.