Serious Eater
A Food Lover's Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
"A hilarious and moving story of unconventional entrepreneurialism, passion, and guts." --Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group; Founder of Shake Shack; Author of Setting the Table
Original recipes by J. Kenji López-Alt of The Food Lab and Stella Parks of BraveTart
James Beard Award-winning founder of Serious Eats Ed Levine finally tells the mouthwatering and heartstopping story of building--and almost losing--one of the most acclaimed and beloved food sites in the world.
In 2005, Ed Levine was a freelance food writer with an unlikely dream: to control his own fate and create a different kind of food publication. He wanted to unearth the world's best bagels, the best burgers, the best hot dogs--the best of everything edible. To build something for people like him who took everything edible seriously, from the tasting menu at Per Se and omakase feasts at Nobu down to mass-market candy, fast food burgers, and instant ramen.
Against all sane advice, he created a blog for $100 and called it...Serious Eats. The site quickly became a home for obsessives who didn't take themselves too seriously. Intrepid staffers feasted on every dumpling in Chinatown and sampled every item on In-N-Out's secret menu. Talented recipe developers like The Food Lab's J. Kenji López-Alt and Stella Parks, aka BraveTart, attracted cult followings.
Even as Serious Eats became better-known--even beloved and respected--every day felt like it could be its last. Ed secured handshake deals from investors and would-be acquirers over lunch only to have them renege after dessert. He put his marriage, career, and relationships with friends and family at risk through his stubborn refusal to let his dream die. He prayed that the ride would never end. But if it did, that he would make it out alive.
This is the moving story of making a glorious, weird, and wonderful dream come true. It's the story of one food obsessive who followed a passion to terrifying, thrilling, and mouthwatering places--and all the serious eats along the way.
Praise for Serious Eater
"Read[s] more like a carefully crafted novel than a real person's life." --from the foreword by J. Kenji López-Alt
"Wild, wacky, and entertaining...The book makes you hungry for Ed to succeed...and for lunch." --Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar
"Serious Eater is seriously good!...you'll be so glad [Ed] invited you to a seat at his table." --Ree Drummond, author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks
"After decades of spreading the good food gospel we get a glimpse of the missionary behind the mission." --Dan Barber, chef, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Food writer turned entrepreneur Levine tells of how he launched the James Beard Award winning website Serious Eats website at age 54 in this passionate personal business history. Levine found his calling while writing a book titled New York Eats on the best non-restaurant food in New York City; it sparked a mission to celebrate "even the cheapest and most common foods, like pizza and hot dogs." When writing opportunities for him started to dwindle around 2006, he began blogging and soon launched Serious Eats in an attempt to educate food lovers and keep "deserving food purveyors' dreams alive." Levine excelled at attracting talented staff and writers (J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Stella Parks among them) but struggled at first to run the business. He writes of an "insane thrill ride" through office robberies, failed buyouts, and family investments that put his personal relationships at stake. "We were changing the way people cooked and ate," he writes. "We taught people to think critically about received wisdom in food science." Foodies and tech junkies will tear through this fast-paced tale from a food-loving entrepreneur who changed the course of food media.
