Chef Writer Andrew Friedman Releases The Book The Dish

You'll never look at a restaurant meal the same way again. As you've probably noticed, much recent food- and restaurant related media has focused on previously unheralded, unsung kitchen and farm workers, and on related issues such as immigration, operating expenses, and sustainable sourcing. Perhaps you've covered some of these topics yourself. In THE DISH, author Andrew Friedman-who's been reporting and broadcasting about chefs and kitchen culture for nearly 25 years-stitches together all these threads by profiling the key restaurant and farm employees whose lives and work culminate in a single dish at an independent Chicago restaurant. Told in real time during a dinner service, the book tracks one dish (a deceptively simple composition of aged strip loin, tomato, and sorrel) at Wherewithall restaurant from the moment it's ordered by the guests at a table to when it's completed and presented to them. During the intervening hour, as elements of the dish are prepared, cooked, and brought together on the plate, we meet the people who made the dish possible. Friedman, who refers to himself a "chef writer" rather than a "food writer" recognizes the shift in industry and media culture the book represents: "Like many authors and journalists, for years I almost exclusively profiled chefs," he says. "It's long past time that we also recognize and celebrate the others-in and out of restaurants-who make crucial contributions every day."