By Meredith Brody
This may seem like a quixotic time to open an independent book store, but we can thank our lucky stars that Celia Sack didn't let a little thing like the economy get in the way of her dream.
Which is also ours: a cookbook store that honors the past along with the present. At Omnivore Books on Food (
3885a Cesar Chavez Street), Sack, a passionate book collector, cleverly interweaves not just classic cookbooks that remain in print with the newest, glossiest, irresistibly
The Gay Cookbook by Chef Lou Rand Hogan
Published: 1965, Sherbourne Press, New York
What the hell?: The Boys in the Band meets James Beard -- a self-consciously campy guide to the kitchen, at a time when gays were still mostly closeted.
An excerpt from the entry for grinding hamburger: With our grinder 'greased and ready' we shop for some inexpensive meat. (We know, Gertrude, and you're not the only one who's spent half her life looking for inexpensive meat.) Eww.
What Celia Sack,
Lee Sutton/FlickrIn anticipation of the city's sprawling Pride festival on Sunday, June 28, SFoodie is offering up daily features celebrating San Francisco's LGBT food and drink culture.
In 1928, home ec writers and secret lesbian lovers Genevieve Callahan and Lou Richardson (yep, Lou was a she) left Iowa, where they'd been working as editors for Better Homes & Gardens magazine. In San Francisco, their ex-boss Larry Lane had just bought a failing regional magazine called Sunset.
For
Willie Mae's Scotch HouseIn a crispy twist from its usual schedule of readings and talks, Omnivore Books (3885A Cesar Chavez at Church) will soon host its first Fried Chicken Taste-Off. Are you a breast or thigh master? Bring your own home-cooked fried chicken to compete for the chance to win all the door proceeds (non-battling chicken eaters will pay $5 for the privilege to taste and rate the entrants' handiwork). The finger-lickin' good action takes place at the bookstore on Thursday, Ju
pickyourown.org​
Gayle Okumura Sullivan of Dry Creek Peach and Produce in Healdsburg, one of the last peach farms in all of Northern California, will join Omnivore Books owner Celia Sack in hosting a special tasting of Dry Creek's heirloom yellow and white peaches. They'll also oversee a canning swap of your homemade peach preserves (if you're so inclined with an apron).
Okumura should also be able to give you pointers on what else to do with these beauties, from snappy salsa to t
Rakka/FlickrYou're not alone.When Chelsea Handler told a panel of comedians on Chelsea Lately that ABC News was reporting that Julia Child's memoir My Life in France and some of her other books are "flying off the shelves because of the new movie Julie & Julia," the invective flew thick and fast. "It's a movie about a lady who cooks things from a cookbook and then blogs about it," said Guy Branum, identified in supered type as "comedian/staff homosexual". "What's next, a movie about a guy
chandoo.org​After last month's mighty fried chicken battle, eating enthusiast Celia Sack has announced a new cooking competition. Bring your best personally-baked pies (cut into bite-sized portions) to Sack's shop Omnivore Books (3885A Cesar Chavez at Church) on Thursday, September 10, at 6 p.m. and compete for the chance to win top honors as well as half the door money (if you ain't bakin', it'll cost you $5 to eat and judge the hour-long contest).Pie knows no boundaries, but prospectiv
M. BrodyThe books nobody wanted -- even as freebies. Sorry, Guy -- and Gourmet.We made out like a bandit at 18 Reasons' cookbook exchange last night. We're slightly embarrassed about it.
We already have a sister and two friends we regularly give castoff food books to, and we're pretty attached to the ones that remain. So we scrounged around and came up with a couple of paperbacks: Havana Salsa and The Bad for You Cookbook, plus a hardcover copy of Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a
