In this funny, frank, and tender memoir, the author of the New York Times bestseller A Homemade Life and the blog Orangette recounts how opening a restaurant sparked the first crisis of her young marriage.
When Molly Wizenberg married Brandon Pettit, he was a trained composer with a handful of offbeat interests: espresso machines, wooden boats, violin-building, and ice cream–making. So when Brandon decided to open a pizza restaurant, Molly was supportive—not because she wanted him to do it but because the idea was so far-fetched she didn't think he would. Before she knew it, he'd signed a lease on a space. The restaurant, Delancey, was going to be a reality, and all of Molly's assumptions about her marriage were about to change.
Together they built Delancey: gutting and renovating the space on a cobbled-together budget, developing a menu, hiring staff, and passing inspections. Delancey became a success, and Molly tried to convince herself that she was happy in their new life until—in the heat and pressure of the restaurant kitchen—she realized that she hadn't been honest with herself or Brandon.
With evocative photos by Molly and twenty new recipes for the kind of simple, delicious food that chefs eat at home, Delancey is a moving and honest account of two young people learning to give in and let go in order to grow together.
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“Molly Wizenberg’s Delancey is
so much more than a memoir about opening a highly regarded pizza restaurant. It
is a story about building a marriage and a beloved community through grit,
thrift, and self-determination in the pursuit of excellence. Ultimately this is
a story about wholeheartedly embracing the one you love without trying to
smooth away the rough edges or edit out the hard parts. It is also a most
delicious read that sent me to the kitchen as soon as I turned the final page.”
—
Susan Rebecca White, author of A Place at the Table