Spuntino: Comfort Food (New York Style)

Hidden behind rust-colored frontage in the bustling heart of London's Soho, Russell Norman's humble diner, Spuntino, delivers bold flavors to the crowds who flock to its pewter-topped bar. It is Norman's homage to the meals he's enjoyed in frequent trips to New York restaurants--a British chef's spin on American comfort classics.

The one hundred and twenty recipes featured here include burgers, buttermilk fried chicken, the definitive mac and cheese, Spuntino's signature truffled egg toast, sprightly salads, boozy desserts, and upscale cocktails. And Norman charts his love affair with the New York food scene, mapping walks through Manhattan and Brooklyn's hidden gems and scruffy corners, the brasseries and family-owned delis, candy shops, and cocktail bars.

Spuntino will, like POLPO, be a beauty to behold: the same glowing photography with a similarly dazzling design, including a distinctive stripped-away spine to reveal colorful Japanese stitching. Much as he delivered his own spin on Venice in POLPO, here Russell Norman gives us New York through new eyes--celebrating the energy, dynamism, and extraordinary cuisine of our great melting pot.

Russell Norman has, over the last twenty years, worked in many of London’s landmark restaurants as a waiter, bartender, maître d’, general manager and operations director. In 2009, he founded an independent restaurant company with his best friend and has since opened eight restaurants in central London including Polpo, Spuntino and Mishkin’s. His book POLPO: A Venetian Cookbook (of Sorts) was voted Waterstones Book of the Year 2012. In 2014, he presented The Restaurant Man, a six-part prime-time documentary for BBC2. SPUNTINO: Comfort Food, New York Style is his second cookbook.
@Spuntino / www.spuntino.co.uk
@RussellNorman_ / www.russellnorman.co