Detroit Chefs, Food Activists Share Recipes in Book Collaborations

With the holiday season just around the corner, families will inevitably be spending a lot of time in the kitchen. And with that, new recipes will be tested and heirloom traditions will be upheld. For the home cooks looking to expand upon their culinary prowess, some of the most influential figures in the city’s food world right now have collaborated on separate book projects highlighting some of their favorite recipes and insights.

The Detroit Free Press writes that the chefs behind Selden Standard, Supino Pizzeria, Gold Cash Gold, and Takoi worked together on a forthcoming cookbook 4 Detroit: Four Chefs. Four Courses. Four Seasons. Published by Detroit-based Nora Modern, the work of noted food photographer and owner of Joebar, Joe Vaughn, and illustrator Don Kilpatrick, designer Joe Benghauser are also featured in the book, available for $46 Nov. 16 at each of the restaurant locations.

The cookbook’s release comes as each eatery have captured national attention (and in at least one case, controversy) as illustrative of the city’s dining revival. A book release party is planned for 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m., Nov. 18 at Nora, 4240 Cass Ave.

Meanwhile, Devita Davison, director of Food Lab Detroit and a vocal proponent to uplifting the profiles of restaurateurs of color and roaming chef/writer and former Detroiter Tunde Wey are both featured in Feed the Resistance: Practical and Purposeful Recipes + Ideas for Getting Involved, by Julia Tershen. Published by Chronicle Books and now available for $14.95, the book uses recipes and essays from the author and a number of chefs, writers and activists who contributed to the book as a means of guiding political engagement. Davison shares one of her favorite recipes, Southern-style boiled cabbage and turkey, while Wey pens an essay on food, sex and political discourse.

Separately, chef Kate Williams, who recently launched her much-anticipated Lady of the House restaurant in Corktown this fall, received some love when she was included in Kitchen Creativity: Unlocking Culinary Genius — With Wisdom, Inspiration, and Ideas from the World’s Most Creative Chefs (Little Brown and Company, available for $29.78 on Amazon). Written by Karen Page, author of the James Beard Award-winning The Flavor Bible, Williams is highlighted as being part of the growing pop-up dining trend. Prior to opening, Williams traveled across the country, holding a series of ticketed dinners to drum up interest in her newest project.

• Want to cook like a few of Detroit’s hottest chefs? New ‘4 Detroit’ cookbook can help. [Freep]

• Nora Modern [Official]