NEW YORK (November 20, 2006) -- WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, a groundbreaking reference book revealing what to drink with everything from oysters to French toast to a McDonald's Big Mac, received the 2006 Georges Duboeuf "Best Wine Book of the Year" Award at a media luncheon held in New York City on Thursday, November 16. 

 

"We wanted to help take the snobbery out of wine, so that more people are able to enjoy it every single day," say Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, co-authors of WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT:  The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea -- Even Water -- Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers ($35; Bulfinch Press, Oct. '06), who won the 1996 James Beard Book Award for Best Writing on Food for their first book BECOMING A CHEF, which went on to become a critically-acclaimed bestseller.

 

The husband-and-wife author team interviewed more than 70 leading pairing experts -- including 10 master sommeliers -- at dozens of top American restaurants, such as Alinea, Babbo, Daniel, Emeril's, French Laundry, Frontera Grill, Inn at Little Washington, Jean Georges, Mary Elaine's at the Phoenician, Masa's, Per Se, Tru and Valentino, and synthesized their advice into a pairing bible that is the most comprehensive guide to matching food and drink ever compiled, with more than 1,500 entries covering 17 different cuisines and 100 cheeses. The book makes it possible to transform every meal -- breakfast, lunch and dinner, 365 days a year -- from ordinary to extraordinary with the right choice of beverage.

 

Dornenburg and Page made sure that their new 356-page book -- which features pairings for caviar, foie gras, and truffles -- also included such everyday foods as Domino's pizza, Hostess Twinkies, and Taco Bell gorditas. 

 

In WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, sommelier Scott Tyree of the award-winning restaurant Tru in Chicago, confides to the authors, "Don't laugh, but spicy Doritos go great with a Dry Creek Valley or Sonoma County Zinfandel."  And Paul Grieco of New York's Hearth restaurant gives a tip to the owners of Popeye's Fried Chicken on page 154:  "Popeye's should offer sherry at all its locations. It helps cleanse the palate, and that salty tang to it mirrors the saltiness of the fried food.  It's a staggering match."

 

However, when it comes to a pastrami sandwich, wine just won't do:  The authors recommend Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda, which is flavored like celery.  "The flavor is definitely strange, but with pastrami, it's fantastic," vow Dornenburg and Page, who hold certificates from the Sommelier Society of America and Court of Master Sommeliers, respectively.

 

Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, based in the Beaujolais region of France, is the #1 selling brand of Beaujolais Nouveau, with more than 2.2 million bottles due to be consumed in the U.S. over the next several weeks -- and which the authors advise drinking with everything from goat cheese to grilled meats to Thanksgiving dinner. 

 

Winners of the Georges Duboeuf "Best Wine Book of the Year" Award are selected for their ability to "illuminate the subject of wine for both the beginner and the connoisseur," and have previously included some of the bestselling wine books in history, including THE WINE BIBLE by Karen MacNeil, WINE FOR DUMMIES by Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy, and the WINDOWS ON THE WORLD WINE COURSE by Kevin Zraly.

 

Dornenburg and Page, who have been called "the brightest young author team on the culinary scene today" on NPR, have written seven bestselling culinary books, including CULINARY ARTISTRY (1996), DINING OUT (1998), CHEF'S NIGHT OUT (2001), and THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF.  Their popular Blog at www.becomingachef.com was named one of the "Top 10 Food Blogs" by the New York Times Company's About.com, and their e-newsletter goes out to more than 20,000 readers.

 

 

CONTACT:  Julia Shannon at CookbookRave@aol.com or (212) 642-5870, or Aimee Bianca of YC Media at aimee@ycmedia.com or (212) 609-5009 ext. 4, for a review copy of WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT and/or an interview with the authors.

 

http://www.whattodrinkwithwhatyoueat.com