Cheesecake

The satisfying latest work of fiction from Kurlansky (also a journalist known for food writing such as The Core of an Onion), chronicles a Greek family’s pursuit of the American dream. The Katsikases immigrate to New York City in the 1970s. Upon arrival, they’re dazzled not by the Statue of Liberty but the towering Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Niki, his brother Art, Art’s “spellbindingly beautiful” wife Adara, and their toddler Henry settle in Queens and open a diner on the Upper West Side called Katz Brothers, hoping the neighborhood will “someday be a place for rich people.” By the early ’80s, the diner becomes a local favorite, thanks to their goat cheese (Adara raises goats at home) and a cheesecake derived from a recipe by ancient Roman historian Cato the Elder. Trouble brews when Niki’s greed gets the best of him, and he launches a scheme to rehab the neighborhood by buying up properties and using “strong-arm” tactics to force evictions. Kurlansky keeps the plot gliding along, thanks to the larger-than-life Katsikases and a host of affable peripheral characters who bemoan the ravages of gentrification. There’s plenty of substance to this delectable feast. (July)