Poor Man's Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking

“[A] smart yet tender tale. . . . Sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious . . . one of the finest food memoirs of recent years.” —The New York Times Book Review

For a woman raised by a weight-obsessed mother and a father who rebelled by sneaking his daughter out to lavish meals at such fine dining establishments as Le Pavillon and La Grenouille, food could be a fraught proposition. Not that this stopped Elissa Altman from pursuing a culinary career. Everything Elissa cooked was inspired by...