6–9 PM
Join us for an evening discussion on writing about food, and publishing your work. For the first time in our Writers' Seminar history, we will also be sampling and talking about the food on offer during the evening. When we're not tasting food, our moderator will lead an expert panel in talking about it. The conversation will range from discussing how to write mouth-watering prose on food—from restaurant reviewing, to recipe-composing and all things in between—and how to publish it.
This seminar is going to be a little different than usual. During the break, both audience members and panelists alike will sample delicious food and share their ideas and comments on what they eat. It's an opportunity to discuss not only what makes good food, but also what makes good food-writing, right in front of those who have fashioned a living out of doing just that.
In addition to reflecting on the writing process, the panelists will address issues related to the publishing aspects of food writing, such as contacting agents, working with publishing houses and newspaper editors, and running a successful blog. Each panelist comes to 826 with a unique experience and approach, and their combined expertise should prove an invaluable resource for aspiring and seasoned writers alike. No details will be spared, all pertinent secrets will be revealed.
About the moderator:
Erin Archuleta is a co-owner with her husband, of Ichi Catering, a small Sushi and Asian cuisine company in San Francisco. Ichi has racked up a Best of the Bay Guardian Award for their neighborhood Ichi Happy Hours and a Best of the Bay Nomination from the “Best of the Bay” program KRON 4 in its short two years. Erin also works at tablehopper.com writing “the hardhat,” their new column on what it takes to build a restaurant. Prior to her launch in food, Erin was happy to be a part of the 826 Valencia family as the Educational Programs Director.
About the panelists:
Mollie Katzen, with over 6 million books in print, is listed by the New York Times as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. An award-winning illustrator and designer as well as best-selling cookbook author and popular public speaker, Mollie Katzen is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking classics The Moosewood Cookbook, and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. A 2007 inductee into the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, and largely credited with moving healthful vegetarian food from the "fringe" to the center of the American dinner plate, Ms. Katzen has been named by Health Magazine as one of "The Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat." Since 2003, Ms. Katzen has been a consultant to Harvard University Dining Services, and co-creator of their new Food Literacy Project. She is also a culinary advisor to the University of California at Berkeley, a nationally syndicated columnist through the Chicago Tribune, and a contributing editor for SHAPE Magazine.
Scott Youkilis, originally from Cincinnati, has done it all in the restaraunt business, from server to line cook to manager to chef. A graduate of the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University, Youkilis was motivated from an early age to learn about every aspect of the business in order to realize his dream of opening his own restaurant. After honing his craft across the country, including restaraunts in Manhattan, San Francisco, and Tahoe City, Youkilis achieved his dream in 2005. In its first year of operation, Maverick was named the city's best new restaurant by San Francisco Magazine's readers poll. He also edits Out of the Kitchen—a quarterly publication designed to reveal the dedication, passion and collaborative nature of the restaurant business. By sharing our experiences out-of-the-kitchen, the magazine reveals stories about the farmers, fisherman, winemakers and other artisans who make the in-kitchen work possible.
Lessley Anderson is senior editor of the online food magazine, CHOW.com. CHOW describes itself as "a new kind of food media." It offers a variety of subject matter and delivers it to you in audio, video, and everything else the Web’s got to offer. CHOW.com has recipes, instruction, news, entertainment, discussion, and advice. Lessley has also written for the New York Times, Ready Made, Runner's World, and Men's Journal, among others about everything from bacon donuts to Satanists. She lives in San Francisco, plays bluegrass banjo and is trying and failing at being vegan.
Joe Jarrell—joejarrell.com—was born into a family of outstanding Cajun cooks and channeled the typically seething curiosity of youth into the diaphanously glamorous hobby of freelance journalism. He has relished inspirational conversations with some of the world's most intriguing artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers, and chefs over the past 15 years, contributing to a mostly clean laundry list of publications that includes Art in America, CITY, dwell, New York, Playboy, and Rolling Stone. Locally, he's written about food and restaurants for San Francisco Bay Guardian, sfstation.com, and WHERE San Francisco. His current project, launching in early 2009, will integrate his dual backgrounds as food/travel writer and brand/marketing consultant. This niche, meat-centric website—meat-meister.com—will include well-carved reviews and recommendations, video interviews, annual awards, and a branded product line. Because, you know, even skinny guys have to eat.
Aaron French—www.ecochef.com—is chef of The Sunny Side Café, founder of Sunny Side Organics, and the EcoChef columnist for Bay Area News Group papers including the Oakland Tribune. The Sunny Side Café has received a number of accolades, including "Best Place to Experience Slow Food Nation" by San Francisco Magazine, and "Best Breakfast" in both 2006 and 2007 by the East Bay Express, and "Best New Restaurant" in 2007 for Luna Dinner House. Before he became a professional chef he was a professional scientist. He has a Masters in Ecology, for which he spent two years living with the Baka pygmies in Cameroon, studying birds and monkeys. In addition to his newspaper column and scientific journal articles, his writing and photography has been published in Orion, Natural History, Wildlife Conservation, and Birder's World magazines. Online he has written for the CivilEats.com (formerly the Slow Food Nation blog), and U.S. News and World Report. In his free time, Aaron is creating a Food Ecology Network to promote an integrated approach to sustainable eating.
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