Women in Food Panel: Ali Rosen & Special Guests

Join Ali Rosen to celebrate her new book The Slow Burn, with three of her favorite women in the food space to discuss what it means to be an ambitious woman in the culinary world today. Joining Ali in conversation are notable home cook Deb Perelman, self-taught baker Sarah Fennel and restaurateur Ayesha Nurdjaja. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

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ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by Jan. 14 to request.

Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected]

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From the bestselling author of Unlikely Story comes a warm, witty novel about a chef whose unexpected summer in Italy turns messier and richer than any recipe she ever would’ve planned.

Between a breakup and a burned-down restaurant, there’s nothing left in New York for Kit Roth except the ashes of her success.

Needing distance and distraction, she agrees to work for her best friend’s pasta-making nonna in the Italian countryside. But instead of providing a quiet sabbatical to eat up time while her kitchen is rebuilt, the small town of Manciano keeps pulling Kit into its rituals and rhythms. And before long, it shows her everything she’s been missing. Simpler cooking, community…and Nico Ruspoli, an olive oil producer with his own scorched past. But with Kit determined to leave after three months, and Nico rooted to his grove, their growing chemistry is at odds with what they both want for their future.

Yet with each passing week, Kit finds herself measuring less and tasting more. And when it’s time to go back to her life in New York, she doesn’t know what—or who—she’s willing to leave behind.

Photo credit: Melanie Dunea

Ali Rosen is a bestselling author of both cookbooks and novels and is the Emmy and James Beard Award-nominated host of Potluck with Ali Rosen on NYC Life. Her last novel—described in a starred Kirkus review as “a swoonworthy romance reminiscent of a Nora Ephron movie”—is Unlikely Story. She is also the author of three cookbooks including 2024’s 15 Minute Meals. She has frequently been featured on NBC’s Today Show and ABC’s Good Morning America and has contributed to publications including The New York Times, Bon Appetit, The Washington Post, and New York Magazine. She is originally from Charleston, SC but now lives in New York City with her husband, three children, and rescue dog.

Deb Perelman is a self-taught home cook, photographer, and the creator of smittenkitchen.com. She is the author of three New York Times bestselling cookbooks including The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which won the IACP Julia Child Award. Deb lives in New York City with her husband and two of the cutest kids she's ever met.

Sarah Fennel is a self-taught baker and photographer. Her website, Broma Bakery, and her social platforms attract millions of fans monthly. Her debut cookbook, Sweet Tooth, was an instant New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestseller. She lives in New York City with her husband, Alex, and their dog, Tilly.

A Brooklyn native of Italian-Indonesian heritage, Ayesha Nurdjaja’s entrepreneurial spirit first led her to pursue a business degree at Pace University. Shortly after receiving her degree, Ayesha realized food was her true passion and subsequently enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education. She worked in various NYC restaurants including Lidia Bastianich’s Felidia, Bar Aristinal, Picholine and Missy Robbins’ A Voce, and Red Gravy in Brooklyn as executive chef. Ayesha opened Shuka in 2015 with Vicki Freeman and Marc Meyer of The Bowery Group, earning a devoted following for her vibrant Eastern Mediterranean fare. Ayesha opened Shukette in 2021 as Chef/Partner, to rave reviews from the New York Times and The New Yorker, among others. In 2022, she was recognized as a James Beard Award: Best Chef New York finalist. She can currently be seen as a Titan on Food Network's Bobby’s Triple Threat.

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