James Beard’s Classic All-American Eats: Recipes and Stories from Our Best-Loved Local Restaurants

The renowned James Beard Foundation chooses the greatest of America s homegrown eateries and presents recipes for their craveworthy foods. Every town has one: a humble restaurant serving up soul-satisfying food, a place that pulls the whole community together. Maybe it s in a cinderblock shack or a clapboard house, but it s the kind of place you take for granted until you leave town and an uncontrollable craving takes over. These are America s Classics local eateries recognized by the James Beard Foundation as timeless institutions within their communities.

This cookbook brings together eighty of their recipes so the home cook can re-create such regional favorites as St. Elmo s Crab Mac and Cheese, The Shed s Red Chile Enchiladas, Aunt Carrie s Indian Pudding, Bowens Island Frogmore Stew, Totonno s White Clam Pizza, Camp Washington s Cincinnati Chili, and Gott s Roadside Cheeseburger (with the secret sauce ).Just as good as the food are the inspiring tales behind these mom-and-pops, told in oral histories: how an immigrant grandfather turned an heirloom dish into a booming business, or how a vengeful lover s recipe for spicy fried chicken earned a cult following. Classic All-American Eats is a tribute to the local treasures and unsung heroes of true American cooking, as well as a collection of recipes for craveable classic dishes.”