Jeremiah Tower: Language Of Menus
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From Jeremiah Tower's new culinary memoir, Start The Fire, & the Anthony Bourdain and Lydia Tenaglia 2016 documentary on Tower The Last Magnificent, comes a limited edition book & portfolio of menus from stories by writers of fiction; and fiction by writers of menus: The Language of Menus
First Interlude: The Language of Menus
"To me, Menus are a language unto themselves. I have been collecting and reading them since I was ten, composing and acting them out since I was a teenager. They spoke to me as clearly as any childhood fantasy novel. Reading an old menu slowly forms in my mind’s eye its era, the sensibility of the restauranteur or the chef, even the physical details of the dining room. I can piecture the guests even when I don’t know who they were. Sometimes I can conjure up an entire evening, a three-act play orchestrated around the food. And from my own past, it is the menus and the food that are the fixatives for the memories. When I think again about one of my mother’s summer garden party menus, the whole day is conjured up - my mouth waters as I see, taste, and smell the lovage-mayonnaise-covered poached whole salmons laid out in the tents. I can see everyone who was there. I have used the language of menus as the basis for dialogue with mentors, colleagues, and friends. And I had always assumed that this language was universal. When I began to write this book, I outlined it with menus - some that had aroused my appetities, others that I’d designed and cooked myself - and eagerly passed them on to a few editors and publishers as a way of revealing my mission. The silence was deafening - broken later by only a single comment poised in a question: What do they mean? After a long pause, that question was followed by two more: What were the stories behind the menus, and were any famous people present at the meals? I couldn’t have been more stunned. I thought the menus told their own stories. And eloquently. Menus are liberally sprinkled through this book, and so that you do not find them silent, let me tell you how they speak to me." - Jeremiah Tower Start The Fire
Inspired by this narrarive, we present a collection of menus derived from writers of fiction; and fiction derived by writers of menus. Selections are from works by Gertrude Stein, Michael Palmer, Ernest Hemingway, Lawrence Durrell, Anaïs Nin, Cecil Beaton, Lucian Beebe, Henry Fielding, Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Ken Kesey, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Jhumpa Lahiri, and others.
The collection is a first edition Book (8.5 x 11) with text on the back stories & a Portfolio of 16 Menus (11 x 17 Broadside Format, suitable for framing); limited to 136 copies: 26 lettered A-Z (Giclée Print & Letterpress); 100 numbered 1-100 (Laser Print & Letterpress); and 10 Special Dedication copies (Giclée Print & Letterpress); all signed and presented in an archival boxed set. We are offering a range of rewards to contributors to create this collector’s archival edition.
Jeremiah Tower & James Monday have been friends since 1973, when JT first arrived at Chez Panisse. James was a printer by day & a waiter by night (now an architect, graphic designer & photographer day & night); and we worked together on many of the Special Dinner Menus for the Restaurant, then.
This is our Reunion. There is still much work for us to do, & The Music Never Stops!
First Interlude: The Language of Menus
"To me, Menus are a language unto themselves. I have been collecting and reading them since I was ten, composing and acting them out since I was a teenager. They spoke to me as clearly as any childhood fantasy novel. Reading an old menu slowly forms in my mind’s eye its era, the sensibility of the restauranteur or the chef, even the physical details of the dining room. I can piecture the guests even when I don’t know who they were. Sometimes I can conjure up an entire evening, a three-act play orchestrated around the food. And from my own past, it is the menus and the food that are the fixatives for the memories. When I think again about one of my mother’s summer garden party menus, the whole day is conjured up - my mouth waters as I see, taste, and smell the lovage-mayonnaise-covered poached whole salmons laid out in the tents. I can see everyone who was there. I have used the language of menus as the basis for dialogue with mentors, colleagues, and friends. And I had always assumed that this language was universal. When I began to write this book, I outlined it with menus - some that had aroused my appetities, others that I’d designed and cooked myself - and eagerly passed them on to a few editors and publishers as a way of revealing my mission. The silence was deafening - broken later by only a single comment poised in a question: What do they mean? After a long pause, that question was followed by two more: What were the stories behind the menus, and were any famous people present at the meals? I couldn’t have been more stunned. I thought the menus told their own stories. And eloquently. Menus are liberally sprinkled through this book, and so that you do not find them silent, let me tell you how they speak to me." - Jeremiah Tower Start The Fire
Inspired by this narrarive, we present a collection of menus derived from writers of fiction; and fiction derived by writers of menus. Selections are from works by Gertrude Stein, Michael Palmer, Ernest Hemingway, Lawrence Durrell, Anaïs Nin, Cecil Beaton, Lucian Beebe, Henry Fielding, Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Ken Kesey, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Jhumpa Lahiri, and others.
The collection is a first edition Book (8.5 x 11) with text on the back stories & a Portfolio of 16 Menus (11 x 17 Broadside Format, suitable for framing); limited to 136 copies: 26 lettered A-Z (Giclée Print & Letterpress); 100 numbered 1-100 (Laser Print & Letterpress); and 10 Special Dedication copies (Giclée Print & Letterpress); all signed and presented in an archival boxed set. We are offering a range of rewards to contributors to create this collector’s archival edition.
Jeremiah Tower & James Monday have been friends since 1973, when JT first arrived at Chez Panisse. James was a printer by day & a waiter by night (now an architect, graphic designer & photographer day & night); and we worked together on many of the Special Dinner Menus for the Restaurant, then.
This is our Reunion. There is still much work for us to do, & The Music Never Stops!
Organizer
James Monday
Organizer
Davis, CA
