Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Yup, @SamSifton

LUCY BURDETTE: Down here in Key West, we are buried in our Friends of the Key West library speaker series, which has been absolutely splendid. A week ago Monday, our special guest was Sam Sifton. (In case you don’t recognize the name, he is a former New York Times restaurant critic, the founder of New York Times Cooking, and now an assistant editor of the Times.) Anyway, we were able to talk him into being our speaker that night as well as appear as the star guest at a special fundraising gala.



Sam Sifton with the greeting committee

I told my friend who persuaded him to come that John and I would love to take them to dinner the night before. She chose coming to our house for supper instead. That’s all I could think about for the next three weeks: Sam Sifton, the food critic, was coming to my house for dinner. What in the hell do you cook for Sam Sifton?? John thought I was out of my mind, but as always, he was a good sport. I told a few cooking friends, but the suggestions began to make me anxious. Instead of soliciting ideas for menus, I had a chat with the Reds, confessing that the only thing I could imagine was making homey dishes that I knew would turn out reasonably well. Here's what they said...

RHYS BOWEN: This reminds me of when my daughter found out that the friend she had invited to dinner’s husband was day chef at the French Laundry. Utter panic. I said serve pizza.

I’m sure he’ll love good homey food. Simple.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: SHRIMP. Didn't I read that in your book?

And the last thing I would try to do is impress him--can you imagine his life? Maybe ask him to pitch in.

LUCY: I was thinking about a roast chicken, macaroni and cheese and a salad. Will start with shrimp cocktail and and end with a caramel cake. That’s when I’m thinking… That’s what I’d want to eat.

HANK: He will absolutely love that menu! Absolutely.

JULIA: That sounds fabulous, Lucy. One thing I've learned from all those movies about gourmet chefs is, they deeply appreciate home cooking!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Sam Sifton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh! I can just imagine how thrilled he would be to have a home cooked meal in your lovely flat. With drinks on the balcony.

And the menu sounds PERFECT!!

JENN MCKINLAY: You've got this, Lucy. I have no doubt he'll enjoy every bite. Also, I think I read that Anthony Bourdain loved Popeyes. LOL. They are regular people and home cooking is the best cooking.

HALLIE EPHRON: OMG - That’s insane. TAKE NOTES!

Getting ready...

LUCY: I confess I was nervous, but he and his friends were lovely and the night was a lot of fun. I made exactly what I'd proposed:

Once Upon a Chef's mac n cheese

Alison Roman's roast chicken

A salad like our fave at Clemente's Trolley Pizza

I had made the caramel cake from Southern Cakes many times, but it's always a little nerve-wracking. The kitchen gods were with me. This was my best version ever--the cake came out tall and light, the icing was to die for.

caramel cake from Southern Cakes

Sam and friends Paul, Ellen, Brendan, in terrible lighting

The Friends event was fabulous--Sam was smart and charming and personable. And we made a chunk of money for the library. Phew!

Ellen T. White grilling our guest

photo by Brendan McCarthy

What would you make for a food critic??

The Key West Food Critic Mysteries

We were thrilled to find out that Roberta will be writing a new mystery series featuring a food critic and set in glamorous, sunny Key West. The first in the series (from NAL) is A TASTE FOR MURDER. Roberta will be writing under a new pen name, Lucy Burdette, but here at Jungle Red, we're still going to be calling her Roberta.

JAN: You've written mysteries with protagonists who were golf

pros, advice columnist/psychologist, and now food critic. How do you

go about learning the occupation of your main character and how does

that play into their personalities and/or sleuthing.

ROBERTA: The golf lover's series came at a time when I was deeply

obsessed with golf. I knew how to play, though certainly not at

the level of a professional, and was familiar with what happens to a

neurotic personality under the stress of competition! To get ready to

write about Cassie, I read a lot about pro women golfers, watched

tournaments, and even played with two pros in a tournament. So much

fun!

The advice column series featured a clinical psychologist and this

character was actually much closer to home for me. I gave her a

private practice very similar to the one I had and placed her in New

Haven, CT, which is very familiar to me. the advice column stuff I

simply made up...

Now this new series is something different--the first time a publisher

has suggested a character's occupation. I probably wouldn't have

thought of writing about a food critic, but I love to eat, cook, and

read and write about food, so why not give a try? I've been reading

memoirs by retired New York Times food critics (Born Round by Frank

Bruni and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl) and other food writers

like Kim Severson (Spoon Fed.) And most luckily, the Key West Literary

Seminar in January is focused on food writing this year. So I'll get

to hear and learn from all kinds of well known food writers, including

the two critics I mentioned. I'm so excited!

JAN: I love Key West, but tell everyone else, why it makes such a

terrific setting.

ROBERTA: Key West is a gorgeous tropical island at the very tip of

the Florida keys, just 90 miles from Cuba. Tolerance of differences

seems to be higher here at the end of the earth, so KW attracts a

fascinating mix of people--artistic types, wealthy, homeless, gay,

straight, you name it. It has a kind of Caribbean island mentality,

while maintaining the advantages of being in the US. The police and

the town struggle to balance welcoming tourists and taking care of

actual residents. And the foodie scene is terrific!

JAN: Tell us about your new protagonist, Hayley Snow -- is she native to Key West, an import??And how does either one of those factor into her personality or her

sleuthing skills.

ROBERTA: She has just arrived on the island and fallen in love with

the place. As the book opens, the boyfriend she moved to be with has

dumped her. She can afford to stay only if she lands the food critic

position at the new Key Zest style magazine. Jan, I'm realizing as I

think about your question that I have so much left to find out about

this new character...

JAN: I know that you are a enthusiastic cook -- does that factor into your development of Hayley. Will you be sharing your recipes??

ROBERTA: Hayley's a great cook--she learned that from her mother. Her critical streak comes from her father. I loved having my character Rebecca Butterman think about problems while she cooked, and feed people both physically and emotionally (including herself!). So I'm delighted to have the chance to write another character for whom food and eating are important and pleasurable. I have no idea whether the

publisher will want recipes in the book, but I can definitely picture sharing some on a new blog. It's going to be a challenge to figure out how to promote this series under a brand new name--and a challenge to answer to "Lucy"!

JAN: Please feel free to ask Lucy more about Key West, cooking or her new series!!

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