In Person Event with Author Katherine Miller

You’re invited to Writer’s Block Bookstore for an enlightening evening with Katherine Miller and Chef Hari Pulapaka. In Miller’s recently released book At the Table, she unveils the powerful role chefs play in addressing challenges in our food system. From hunger relief to confronting industry issues, Miller shares essential techniques developed for the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. Discover how chefs and restaurants create lasting change and become advocates for a better world outside their kitchen. The event will last from 6 to 8 PM on February 9th. The $35 ticket covers the price of admission and a copy of At the Table. (All books will be signed by Katherine at the event)

If you cannot attend the event but would like a signed copy, please and add in the notes you would like a signed copy.

RSVP is required for this event as we anticipate a sold-out event!

ABOUT AT THE TABLE

A former James Beard Foundation executive shares her best advice on how to use your love for food and cooking to make the world a better place.
When Katherine Miller was first asked to train chefs to be advocates, she thought the idea was ludicrous. This was a group known for short tempers and tattoos, not for saving the world. But she quickly learned that chefs and other leaders in the restaurant industry are some of the most powerful forces for change in our troubled food system. Chefs are leading hunger relief efforts, supporting local farmers, fighting food waste, confronting racism and sexism in the industry, and much more.
In At the Table, Miller shares the essential techniques she developed for the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. Readers will learn how to focus their philanthropic efforts; pinpoint their audience and develop their argument; recruit allies and support action; and maybe most importantly, grab people’s attention in a crowded media landscape.
Miller also shares the moving stories of chefs who used these skills to create lasting change. Tom Colicchio became one of the world’s most respected voices on ending hunger. Bakers Against Racism recruited more than 3,000 people to participate in their global bake sales. Chefs from around the country pushed Congress to provide financial relief to the restaurant industry at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the Table is filled with inspiration for anyone who has ever wanted to make a difference outside the four walls of their restaurant. And most importantly, it offers proven methods to become a successful advocate. You don’t have to be a celebrity chef to change the food system; you just need the will and the tools in this unique guide.

ABOUT KATHERINE MILLER

Named an industry leader and “Fixer” by Grist magazine and called one of the most innovative women in food and beverage by Fortune and Food & Wine magazines, Katherine Miller was the founding executive director of the Chef Action Network and the vice president of impact at the James Beard Foundation.

She was the first food policy fellow at American University’s Sine Institute of Policy and Politics and is a Distinguished Terker Fellow at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.

Miller has built a 20-year career working at the intersections of policy, politics, and social impact. She develops and manages award-winning campaigns, trains activists around the world, and helps deliver millions of supporters – and hundreds of millions in funding – to efforts focused on global health, climate change, gender bias and violence, and food system reform. She is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and serves on the Board of Directors of both the New Venture Fund and Re: Her DC. Miller is an adjunct professor at the Culinary Institute of America. She lives in Washington DC, on the land of the Anacostan and Nacotchtank people, with her husband, Lou, and their cat, Lily.

ABOUT HARI PULAPAKA

Hari Pulapaka is a dedicated and tenured Associate Professor of Mathematics entering his twenty-fourth year at Stetson University. Originally from Mumbai, Hari has been residing in the United States since 1987. He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Florida in 1995. A professional midlife crisis prompted him to pursue culinary arts, resulting in his graduation from classical culinary school in 2004 with top-of-the-class honors.

A four-time James Beard Best Chef semifinalist, Hari has been invited to cook at the historic James Beard House in New York City seven times. He was also a featured chef at the 2018 James Beard Awards in Chicago. In 2008, Hari co-founded the award-winning restaurant, Cress, located in DeLand, FL with his wife Jenneffer Pulapaka, which, during his co-ownership and leadership from 2008-2019, garnered numerous accolades, including being rated as ZAGAT's #1. In 2017, Hari established his company, Global Cooking School, encompassing his culinary pursuits, which include teaching, philanthropy, and crafting world-class, globally inspired, and sustainably minded tasting menus. Hari is no longer affiliated with Cress Restaurant.

Recognized as a GRIST 50 fixer in 2016 for his innovative efforts in food waste reduction, Hari holds the title of Certified Executive Chef (CEC) with the American Culinary Federation and is an inductee into the American Academy of Chefs. Additionally, he is a Worldchefs Certified Master Chef (WCMC). Hari actively contributes to sustainability initiatives as a strategic advisor for Postelsia, a member of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Group and the Academic Working Group of Food Tank, and a participant in the Zero Food Waste Coalition. He serves as Chef/Partner for Enroot Organics, PBC.

Hari is a prolific author, with multiple published books to his credit. His latest endeavor, coauthored with his wife, Dr. Jenneffer Pulapaka, is titled "The Heart Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook: 101 Recipes for Lowering Blood Pressure, Reversing Heart Disease & Cardiac Recovery," scheduled for release in Spring 2024. The book is published by Hatherleigh Press and distributed by Penguin Random House.

Host or Publisher Writer's Block Bookstore