ONLINE EVENT
Peter Hoffman, pioneer of farm-to-table cooking in New York and founder of iconic restaurants Savoy and Back Forty, unpacks his journey from line cook to chef/owner during the New York food scene’s fundamental shift away from French dominance to a more global and farm-to-table approach. In his first book, What’s Good?: A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients Hoffman tells this story through a series of tales of a life in kitchens—detailing personal stories and deeply curious explorations into the cultural, historical, and botanical backstories of the foods we eat.
Join Peter Hoffman in virtual conversation with fellow pioneer and James Beard-nominated chef and owner of Dirt Candy, Amanda Cohen, as they unpack what we eat, why we eat it, and how to make it delicious.
Tickets include the option to purchase What’s Good?: A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients *shipped to your door by Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York City. *US only
PETER HOFFMAN
Chef Peter Hoffman is a curious cook’s cook; interested in the cultural, historical and botanical backstories of foods as well as making them taste delicious. Chef owner of the renowned Savoy, Back Forty and Back Forty West from 1990 until 2016, his memoir What’s Good? A Memoir In Fourteen Ingredients (Abrams) is due in June 2021.
Named “A Locavore Before the Word Existed” by the New York Times and recognized by Slow Food NYC with a Snailblazer award, Hoffman sat on the board of Chefs Collaborative from 1997 until 2010, acting as its national chair from 2000-2006. As a speaker and writer he can be seen on youtube giving a TEDx talk on fracking and has had numerous articles published in Edible Manhattan and op-ed pieces in the New York Times.
For over thirty years, he has been cycling to the Union Square Greenmarket to source the best in local and seasonal ingredients, the core of his cooking.
AMANDA COHEN
Amanda Cohen is the James Beard-nominated chef and owner of Dirt Candy, the award-winning vegetable restaurant on New York City's Lower East Side. She is also one of the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef Canada, and she is a co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition.
Dirt Candy was the first vegetable-focused restaurant in the city and is a pioneer of the vegetable-forward movement. It’s included in Paul Freedman’s Ten Restaurants That Changed America as “Ten Restaurants Changing America Now” alongside Momofuku and Eleven Madison Park. Dirt Candy’s original location only had 18 seats and was open for seven years, during which time it became the first vegetarian restaurant in 17 years to receive two stars from the New York Times, was recognized by the Michelin Guide five years in a row, and won awards from Gourmet Magazine, the Village Voice, and many others.
Its new location opened in January, 2015 and was the first restaurant in the city to eliminate tipping and share profits with its employees. Amanda was the first vegetarian chef to compete on Iron Chef: America and her comic book cookbook, Dirt Candy: A Cookbook, is the first graphic novel cookbook to be published in North America. It's currently in its eighth printing.
In 2018, New York Magazine named Dirt Candy "The Absolute Best Restaurant on the Lower East Side" and Wine Enthusiast selected it as one of the 100 Best Wine Restaurants in America.
KITCHEN ARTS & LETTERS
Kitchen Arts & Letters is a bookstore devoted to food and drink, with titles imported from around the world. They emphasize works on food culture and innovation.