Extra Sauce

It is rare for me to pick up a memoir by someone I’m not familiar with, but I’d heard fantastic things about this one. Also, I am obsessed with food writing (and miss my old life in New York), so it felt like the appropriate thing to read when I got home from my trip. I am so happy I picked it up, because the writing is so incredibly good that I felt absolutely transported into Tangorra’s world (and also very hungry). The book opens with a near-death experience: Tangorra is on a tour bus. The driver falls asleep at the wheel. The bus goes off of the cliff. Miraculously, she survives . . . and with the money from a settlement, opens up the cult-favorite Brooklyn restaurant, Brucie. She takes us through the Brucie years (and needing to close it and file for bankruptcy). The way she writes about food is extraordinary. But also, family and romantic love. The chapters about her father (and cooking his last meal) had me in tears. And as an added bonus, the book is filled with her recipes (old family ones, plus Brucie favorites). I want to make them all! I keep saying this, but it would be the perfect book club/cookbook club hybrid. This is an absolute must for all of the food lovers!