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All chefs can cook, but not every chef can cook at home, and even fewer can cook just for themselves. Anita Lo proves she can do all that and more in Solo, a cookbook whose simple recipes coax complex flavors out of basic ingredients. But what comes through most is how much she cares: about how many dishes you have to wash afterward, about your budget, and about your heart. Whether it's shattered and starving, or full to overflowing, she's been there. And she knows exactly what it craves at that moment. --Amanda Cohen, author of Dirt Candy: A Cookbook I learned to be a solo diner at Anita Lo's restaurant annisa. But even though I ate alone, I was never lonely, because her cooking spoke to my soul. This collection of recipes will dispel all forlorn thoughts about toiling over a hot stove by yourself. And it will give a celebratory new meaning to 'party of one.' --Howard Chua-Eoan, former news director of Time magazine Bravo, Anita! This book is a fun reference for anyone, whether they are a 'table for one' or a group of friends. As a professional chef, I too struggle with cooking for myself when I've spent the day cooking for everyone else, and I love that Anita has developed a guide. The playful anecdotes and stories of her solo escapades are enough for me to pick up this book, let alone the mouth-watering recipes that make me want to run to the kitchen to try them out. This is the perfect addition to your library! --April Bloomfield, author of A Girl and Her Pig

A Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Epicurious, Grub Street, and Food52 Best Cookbook of the Year There is no smarter cookbook out this year, filled with personality and grace, that's better at nudging us into the kitchen, in the midst of tumultuous times, to nourish ourselves. . . . Unlike many cookbooks that promise chef-driven techniques adapted for the home cook, Solo actually delivers. --Eater A book celebrating the simple act of cooking for yourself. . . . A cookbook that speaks directly to a growing proportion of single Americans. . . . [Lo] carefully stocks her own kitchen with kimchi, tahini and dried anchovies. A touch of any of these ingredients can change the direction of a dish. --Tejal Rao, The New York Times Lo knows that cooking for oneself is an important aspect of self-care. . . . The recipes serve as a meaningful reminder that cooking for one can be delicious and fun. --San Francisco Chronicle Anita Lo is my hero. Her weeknight recipes challenge you to eat better, treat yourself better, and find comfort in meals made by your own hand. . . . This is the cookbook that made my heart sing in 2018. --Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit A small book packed with big ideas. . . . [Lo] combines humor . . . a well-stamped passport and an instinctual distaste for waste into a global roster of uncomplicated, chef-driven dishes that are a far cry from microwaved frozen dinners. --Minneapolis Star Tribune Those of us who've improvised sad solo dinners of microwaved frozen corn or boxed mac and cheese with hot sauce understand that learning how to cook decent meals for one is a real and urgent need. . . . [Solo] provides elegant, knife-sharp solutions. Recipes employ toaster ovens, electric pressure cookers, grill pans, and other small-format energy-savers--and the food is flat-out beautiful. --Helen Rosner, The New Yorker Solo is a testament to celebrating all of the reasons we find ourselves alone at the table with knife and fork--and never apologizing for any of them. --Food52 [Lo] has humor in her well-stocked arsenal. . . . Fans of the Franco-Yankee dishes in Judith Jones's The Pleasures of Cooking for One will be jazzed to spin the globe with Lo, whose travels and culinary background have made her fluent in Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese cuisines, among others. Lo never stints on flavor, often adapting restaurant-y techniques for the toaster oven (amen). --Christine Muhlke, The New York Times Book Review A very good cookbook. . . . The recipes [in Solo] are complex, personal, comforting. --Epicurious [Lo's] guide to solo cooking is peppered with stories, illustrations, and recipes for dishes like salt-broiled Spanish mackerel with broccoli rabe and orange, twice-cooked sweet potatoes with kale, mushrooms, and parmesan, and mac and two cheeses (yes, please!). --Food & Wine Anita Lo is exactly the person we want teaching us to cook at home for ourselves. . . . The recipes are downsized and oh-so-practical . . . though they can easily be doubled (or tripled) should guests suddenly show up once they hear about the meals you're making for yourself. --New York [Los'] writing is engaging, filled not only with linguistic factoids but also vivid personal stories and self-deprecating humor. --Edible Manhattan A book of compelling and approachable recipes that waste neither ingredients nor time. . . . [Lo] peppers the book with valuable tips and brief vignettes that will take readers along with her to Vietnam, Alaska or France. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel A book after this forever-single guy's heart. It gives me joy to think that, from a single chicken, I can make Lo's smothered chicken leg and a biscuit, Thai white curry with chicken, and chicken tagine with couscous, and still have bird to spare. --Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The lesson here is that cooking for yourself is tantamount to loving yourself. . . . It can be surprisingly difficult for single young professionals to cook meals for themselves. . . . Luckily, Anita Lo, the chef and owner of the late restaurant, Annisa, has done a lot of the hard work for us, drawing on her decades of experience as a professional chef, her upbringing as a child of immigrants, and her extensive travels for a delectable guide on cooking for 'a party of one.' --Grub Street

A Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlantic, Epicurious, Grub Street, The Forward, Newsday, Mother Jones, and Food52 Best Cookbook of the Year There is no smarter cookbook out this year, filled with personality and grace, that's better at nudging us into the kitchen, in the midst of tumultuous times, to nourish ourselves. . . . Unlike many cookbooks that promise chef-driven techniques adapted for the home cook, Solo actually delivers. --Eater A book celebrating the simple act of cooking for yourself. . . . A cookbook that speaks directly to a growing proportion of single Americans. . . . [Lo] carefully stocks her own kitchen with kimchi, tahini and dried anchovies. A touch of any of these ingredients can change the direction of a dish. --Tejal Rao, The New York Times Lo knows that cooking for oneself is an important aspect of self-care. . . . The recipes serve as a meaningful reminder that cooking for one can be delicious and fun. --San Francisco Chronicle Anita Lo is my hero. Her weeknight recipes challenge you to eat better, treat yourself better, and find comfort in meals made by your own hand. . . . This is the cookbook that made my heart sing in 2018. --Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Bold and joyous. --The Atlantic A small book packed with big ideas. . . . [Lo] combines humor . . . a well-stamped passport and an instinctual distaste for waste into a global roster of uncomplicated, chef-driven dishes that are a far cry from microwaved frozen dinners. --Minneapolis Star Tribune Those of us who've improvised sad solo dinners of microwaved frozen corn or boxed mac and cheese with hot sauce understand that learning how to cook decent meals for one is a real and urgent need. . . . [Solo] provides elegant, knife-sharp solutions. Recipes employ toaster ovens, electric pressure cookers, grill pans, and other small-format energy-savers--and the food is flat-out beautiful. --Helen Rosner, The New Yorker Solo is a testament to celebrating all of the reasons we find ourselves alone at the table with knife and fork--and never apologizing for any of them. --Food52 [Lo] has humor in her well-stocked arsenal. . . . Fans of the Franco-Yankee dishes in Judith Jones's The Pleasures of Cooking for One will be jazzed to spin the globe with Lo, whose travels and culinary background have made her fluent in Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese cuisines, among others. Lo never stints on flavor, often adapting restaurant-y techniques for the toaster oven (amen). --Christine Muhlke, The New York Times Book Review A very good cookbook. . . . The recipes [in Solo] are complex, personal, comforting. --Epicurious [Lo's] guide to solo cooking is peppered with stories, illustrations, and recipes for dishes like salt-broiled Spanish mackerel with broccoli rabe and orange, twice-cooked sweet potatoes with kale, mushrooms, and parmesan, and mac and two cheeses (yes, please!). --Food & Wine Anita Lo is exactly the person we want teaching us to cook at home for ourselves. . . . The recipes are downsized and oh-so-practical . . . though they can easily be doubled (or tripled) should guests suddenly show up once they hear about the meals you're making for yourself. --New York [Los'] writing is engaging, filled not only with linguistic factoids but also vivid personal stories and self-deprecating humor. --Edible Manhattan A book of compelling and approachable recipes that waste neither ingredients nor time. . . . [Lo] peppers the book with valuable tips and brief vignettes that will take readers along with her to Vietnam, Alaska or France. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel A book after this forever-single guy's heart. It gives me joy to think that, from a single chicken, I can make Lo's smothered chicken leg and a biscuit, Thai white curry with chicken, and chicken tagine with couscous, and still have bird to spare. --Wendell Brock, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution In Lo's hands, solitary dining becomes almost sexy, from hand rolls of mackerel, cucumber and avocado to braised short rib with caramelized endive and cauliflower chat with onions. --Newsday The lesson here is that cooking for yourself is tantamount to loving yourself. . . . It can be surprisingly difficult for single young professionals to cook meals for themselves. . . . Luckily, Anita Lo, the chef and owner of the late restaurant, Annisa, has done a lot of the hard work for us, drawing on her decades of experience as a professional chef, her upbringing as a child of immigrants, and her extensive travels for a delectable guide on cooking for 'a party of one.' --Grub Street

All chefs can cook, but not every chef can cook at home, and even fewer can cook just for themselves. Anita Lo proves she can do all that and more in Solo, a cookbook whose simple recipes coax complex flavors out of basic ingredients. But what comes through most is how much she cares: about how many dishes you have to wash afterward, about your budget, and about your heart. Whether it's shattered and starving, or full to overflowing, she's been there. And she knows exactly what it craves at that moment. --Amanda Cohen, author of Dirt Candy: A Cookbook I learned to be a solo diner at Anita Lo's restaurant annisa. But even though I ate alone, I was never lonely, because her cooking spoke to my soul. This collection of recipes will dispel all forlorn thoughts about toiling over a hot stove by yourself. And it will give a celebratory new meaning to 'party of one.' --Howard Chua-Eoan, former news director of Time magazine Bravo, Anita! This book is a fun reference for anyone, whether they are a 'table for one' or a group of friends. As a professional chef, I too struggle with cooking for myself when I've spent the day cooking for everyone else, and I love that Anita has developed a guide. The playful anecdotes and stories of her solo escapades are enough for me to pick up this book, let alone the mouth-watering recipes that make me want to run to the kitchen to try them out. This is the perfect addition to your library! --April Bloomfield, author of A Girl and Her Pig [A] marvelous cookbook. . . Lo's quirky tone and [the] charming illustrations make this a winner. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author Information

ANITA LO is an acclaimed chef who worked at Bouley and Chanterelle before opening the Michelin-starred restaurant annisa in the heart of Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 2000, which she ran until it closed in 2017. Food & Wine named her one of ten Best New Chefs in America, and The Village Voice proclaimed her Best New Restaurant Chef. She has appeared on Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, and Chopped; in 2015, she became the first female guest chef to cook at the White House. She lives in New York City and on Long Island. Author Residence- New York City and Long Island, NY

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