 t
was October 1994 that I took those first steps into Asheville's
vegetarian food grotto. You actually step down a few steps to get into Max
& Rosie's vegetarian café, and most always greeted by a
happy face behind the counter. It has the feeling of some Sufi café in
London (if indeed there is such a place). Maybe that's because Max
(that's not his really name by the way) follows the Sufi path, and IS
from London. He's Rosie's husband. She's from Miami (and Rosie's not her
real name either). She'll tell if you ask... |
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| When you buy their book you'll learn more about their
names and how they got started. It's a little bit of a mystery. This is
a review of Max & Rosie Beeby's first book.
It wasn't long after visiting the café that first time, that Rosie shared with me her desire to write a book. Our heritages both stem from New York City so she was easy for me to love immediately! She had already been a Macrobiotic food teacher back in Florida, and now serving the public she was ready. It made sense. However, being an active and dutiful mother, and Max doing his artwork (which the book and cafe is filled with) there was little time for book writing (and Rosie would like to stay away from the computer as much as she can) . However they were determined, and 7 years later Ten Speed Press published the book. Named after their restaurant (as in the tradition of Moosewood and other best-selling cookbooks), Cafe Max & Rosie's is a delightful and creative 178 pages of, not only recipes, but short statements of some of the people who have worked and visited the café, sort of like their guest book. This book is a great "table top" addition. You can "feel" not only the essence of the food, but can also get the same "feel" of Max's artwork. Ah, Max, quite a mystic himself. With the rugged look of an English pub bouncer, he exhibits the gentleness of a Buddhist monk. I've spent a couple of nights talking with him late at night in their log cabin in the mountains. Their book is divided: Part one called "Rosie's Cooking Classes," and part two "Just Juice It!" So, what distinguishes one cook book from another? Is it the amazing dishes? I think not, for as I have said of their restaurant, I say also of their book, "As Japanese culture has shown, how we eat--the ambience--is as important as the food itself." The heavy parchment paper on which the words and artwork are reproduced can best be described as a table setting worthy of the love and purity contained within the recipes. And if you are indeed a food aficionado, page 56 offers a "Linguini with Fresh Garlic and Asparagus" recipe with tempeh, Portobello mushrooms, and spinach, that will soothe your senses, titillate your palate, and nourish you body. Is this the best cookbook I have read? I can't say, because I don't "read" cookbooks, I sense them. My sense of the Cafe Max & Rosie's book is that it is very "edible." It is a book worth having in your home.... Click here to find out more, and to buy this book. Sw. Virato is editor and editor and publisher of New Frontier Magazine, Asheville Magazine, Chattanooga Spirit |
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