"jennifer rubell" news and stories

Artist Jennifer Rubell was ticking off a list of influences -- Duchamp, Ambramovic -- when a septuagenarian clutching a bag of baby Brussels sprouts approached, asking, "Can I take these on a plane?" Unfazed, Rubell talked over the finer points of traveling with produce. "You get all kinds of questions here," she said after the woman with the Brussels sprouts went in search of the checkout line.

It was another day at Eataly, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianch's 40,000-square foot temple to Italian food in New York, where Rubell is the vegetable butcher. The idea for the job came during a conversation over dinner with her friend Batali at his restaurant Del Posto shortly before the store's opening earlier this month. He was recalling the women who work at the vegetable market in Campo de Fiori in Rome, the way they would trim artichokes by hand and toss the peels into the fountain, how it helped create a sense of place. "Somehow over the course of the night, the idea of a vegetable butcher crystallized," Rubell said.

Cookbooks that focus on entertaining are always useful because while we might throw ceremony out the window for our own dinners from time to time and eat off paper plates in front of the TV, we always try to put something memorable together for guests. For some, this means spending all day - or even multiple days - prepping and working in the kitchen. Jennifer Rubell, described by some as the "perfect modern hostess," knows enjoying yourself and spending time with guests is just as important as the food. In her book, Real Life Entertaining, readers will find both conventional and "real life" tips on preparing, serving and enjoying food at your own parties.

The book provides complete menus for all kinds of occasions, from Rustic Chicken Dinner for 4 with a pair of friends to a Fanch French Toast Brunch for 8 and a one-pot Butternut Squash and Barley soup that will feed a big family of up to 16 diners. Every section includes who to invite, what the guests can bring (because they always ask) and tips for setting the mood before getting to the recipes themselves. It doesn't focus on dessert, but there are instructions for a few easy basics: a cheese course, fruit and chocolate plate and four delicious ice cream sauces.

Jennifer will be at the 2006 Miami Book Fair, Nov. 12-19, so if you'll be attending the event, perhaps you'll be able to pick up some "real life" tips in person.

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