Remember when you were a kid, and beamed with pride and happiness the first time you donned a snazzy new pair of red cowboy boots?
That’s how I feel about my newest cookbook, “East Bay Cooks: Signature Recipes from the Best Restaurants, Bars, and Bakeries” (Figure 1), which debuts this week. Thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of people, it turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Just get a load of the images here from the book, all of them shot by the incredibly talented Bay Area photographer Eva Kolenko.
Whether you’re a Bay Area native or not, this book will have you enthralled with the East Bay, the most populous region in the Bay Area. It spotlights 41 restaurants and bakeries, some brand new, and others that have endured for decades — no easy feat in this challenging and competitive market.
If you think the East Bay is just Oakland and Berkeley, this book will open your eyes to establishments worth trekking farther afoot for in Danville, Pleasanton, and Livermore.
Take a deep dive into the East Bay — and prepare to get very, very hungry.
CONTEST: I’ll be doing a number of book signings around the Bay Area. Find the complete list under my “Personal Appearances’‘ tab. But I wanted to give one lucky Food Gal reader the chance to win a free copy of “East Bay Cooks.” I will personally sign it, too.
The contest, open only to those in the continental United States, will run from now through midnight PST Sept. 14. The winner will be announced on my blog on Sept. 16.
How to win?
It couldn’t be easier. Just tell me why you most want to win this cookbook. Best answer wins.