In this installment of cookbook news, the former CEO of Forbes.com is launching a major new food site; Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks gets a visit from a book blogger; a new recipe CD has 7,000 recipes; and Food & Wine's Dana Cowin tastes recipes from new cookbooks.
New Food Site Coming From Spanfeller
The NY Post’s Keith Kelly reports that Jim Spanfeller, former CEO of Forbes.com, is unveiling a new food site which he “hopes will digest at least $20 million in revenue within three years.” Spanfeller hasn't signed his editor-in-chief or named his site yet, but says he’s close to getting backing from Huffington Post angel investor Ken Lerer and hopes to kick it off with about $2 million in the bank. He told Kelly, “There is a lot of interest in food, which is why we are doing it first, but in terms of really big soup-to-nuts food sites, there is no really big player out there." According to comScore, the top food Web site in May was Allrecipes.com, which garnered 10.2 million unique visitors in May, followed by Cooks.com (8.9 million), Foodnetwork.com (7.5 million); Gourmandia.com, (5.6 million); and About.com/food, (5.6 million).
Visiting Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
Book blogger She Is Too Fond of Books visited Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in New York City recently and reported on her findings. The place has “floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with cookbooks – out-of-print, previously loved, and new editions. Bonnie also stocks memorabilia such as vintage ads, postcards, restaurant and ship menus, etc. And in the bits of wall and bookcase ends that are peeking out, she has strategically-placed crockery, cooking gadgets, and beautiful vintage linens. I felt like I had stepped into my grandmother’s kitchen.”
The Miami Herald reports on Master Cook 8 Deluxe, a CD for all versions of Windows that has more than 7,000 recipes. Master Cook lets you search in various categories, get nutritional information, print out recipes, and import your own recipes. The program costs $25 plus shipping at online retailers.
Dana Cowin Taste Tests Cookbooks
Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin reported on everything she ate for a week for New York magazine's "The New York Diet" column last week. In between country picnics and power breakfasts, Cowin has been taste-testing recipes for the magazine's annual Best of the Best Cookbook. She mentions a quinoa, feta, and herb salad from Gorgeous Vegetables by Annie Bell (Kyle Books), a "crazy amazing grilled-cauliflower steak with tahini sauce" from Eating Local by Sur la Table and Janet Fletcher (Andrews McMeel), and a beef daube from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
For more cookbook coverage from PW, check out our cookbooks page.
