Author of Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, comming to a City near you. He is comming to SF soon. Who wants in?

My Book Tour: Coming to a Town Near You

May 1st, 2011 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Book News, Featured, Out & About | Comments | 22 Comments |

UPDATE: What you read below is my book tour as it now stands. I’ve been getting a lot of requests to come to one place or another, and, for the most part, I am game to go. Montana? You bet. Louisiana? Absolutely. But I need help organizing events there. So if you can help, I will do my part to make it happen. Thanks! ~Hank
After so long, it’s almost here. My first book, Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, comes out May 24, and I will be spending close to 100 days on the road this year meeting all of you and, hopefully, selling enough books to make this whole endeavor worthwhile.
My publisher, Rodale, is helping me with a lot of publicity and logistics, but I’ve pretty much designed this tour myself. The reason is because I did not want to do a traditional series of readings and book signings at stores where the customers are either uninterested or too busy to care; I’ve heard too many horror stories about book signings attended by three people. Not going to go there, if I can help it.
Nope, what I have planned, and what I want this tour to be, is an untraditional series of conversations about foraging and fishing and hunting, as well as a string of book parties highlighted by the cooking of some of the best chefs in the country. You heard right: I have enlisted the help of chefs with kudos ranging from Michelin stars to Food & Wine accolades to James Beard awards to help me celebrate wild food in America. I am deeply honored that they have been so willing to help.
Each chef is creating a special tasting menu inspired by the book, menus so intensely local, seasonal and wild that it could not be done anywhere else. It is a concept made famous by the Danish restaurant NOMA, only brought here. I can’t wait to see what the chefs come up with, and it will be range anywhere from comfort food to modernist works of art.
You see the map above? Click on it, and it will take you a Google map I created with descriptions of each event. I have also created a special page on this site for classes, appearances and events - it’s a tab off the front page right next to the main blog post. I will be updating that constantly, so you know where I’ll be.
 But here’s a rundown of events I have conformed so far:

• May 24, the day the book comes out, I will be doing a live TV spot with my friend Jaden Hair on her show in Tampa. We will be cooking fresh, local grouper, provided we caught some the day before.
• I will then travel to northern Alabama to do some foraging, and I might do a book signing while I am there. After that I head down to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to fish for redfish and spotted trout. I want to see for myself what the oil spill did to the fisheries.
• From there I head to Austin for a whole week. I am excited about doing some fishing there,too,  when I am not attending the annual conference of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Hunter Angler Gardener Cook has been nominated for the association’s Best Blog award, and I will be signing books at IACP’s Culinary Book Fair on the afternoon of Friday June 3. That event is open to the public, and I am crossing my fingers that someone will show up.
• Our first big book dinner kicks off Sunday night, June 5, at FINO. Chef Jason Donoho is coming up with a Texas-style wild food menu. Seating on this is limited, so call 512 474 2905 for reservations.
• From Austin I travel to Scottsdale, AZ (just outside of Phoenix), where I am teaming up with Chef Chrysa Robertson of Rancho Pinot. Robertson is an acclaimed chef and a founder of Slow Food Phoenix, and we are planning a menu with as many ingredients from the Sonoran Desert as we can find. I may be doing a little prep cooking at this event, and I am really, really excited about this menu, as I am fascinated by the flavors of the Southwest. Click here or call 480 367 8030 for reservations.
• I return home to Sacramento June 11 for a conversation about wild food with award-winning food writer Elaine Corn at Cafe Bernardo on Capitol Ave. That event will start at 10 a.m. with coffee and a book signing, then we get to talking about all things wild. Call 916 443 1180 for more details.
• Homecoming continues with the official book launch party at Grange on Thursday, June 16. Chefs Michael Tuohy, Brad Cecchi and I collaborate on a wild food tasting menu will all the flavors of home in early summer: spring porcini, salmon, sturgeon, and, well… you’ll have to come to find out what else. We’re planning a reception and book signing beforehand. There is a very good chance this event will sell out, so click here or call 916 442 4450 to make a reservation.
• From Sacto I head north to Portland June 25-26 for a foraging and feasting weekend with one of the best wild food chefs in the nation, Matt Lightner of Castagna. Chef Lightner and I team up with the Portland Culinary Alliance to lead a foraging walk on Saturday, and then we reconvene at Castagna for a wild food feast with the flavors of the Pacific Northwest. This is right in Matt’s wheelhouse, so you can expect great things. Call 503 231 9959 for reservations, or click here.
• I head to Napa’s Wine Country on  June 30, where my duck hunting buddy and acclaimed chef Sheamus Feeley combines game, wine and wild food at his restaurant Farmstead for a special night. Expect to see some duck here… Make reservations here or call 707 963 9181.
• July 8-11 I will be in Salt Lake City for the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Assn. of America. I’ll be delivering the keynote address on the intersection of the honest food movement with the world of hunting and fishing. There is an interesting meeting of cultures going on here, and I have a lot to say about it.
• I return to California and head to Truckee in the Sierra Nevada on July 16. Chef Jacob Burton of Stella, in the Cedar House Sport Hotel, is planning on a menu that brings together the glories of both the mountains and the Great Basin. It’s a safe bet you will see mushrooms, trout and pine nuts at this meal. One lucky couple will win a night at the hotel and a free dinner. Details on that to come. Click here for reservations.
• I’ll be doing a reading and book signing at Omnivore Books in San Francisco on Thursday, July 21. We’ll be talking about wild food, foraging, fishing and what it means to be a hunter in today’s urban world. More details to come.
• A few days later starts one of the coolest weekends of the tour. On Saturday, July 23, Iso Rabins of Forage SF and I have chartered the fishing vessel Huli-Cat out of Half Moon Bay for a daylong expedition to catch rock cod and sand dabs. This trip is limited to the first 20-or-so people to sign up — we want plenty of space on the boat to fish. We’ll do an Event Brite link soon, but email me at scrbblr AT hotmail DOT com if you are interested.
• After the fishing trip, Iso and I head to San Francisco to clean fish and prepare for a Wild Kitchen dinnerset for July 24: We’re cooking up the fish as part of a multi-course all-foraged meal. This is the only book dinner where I know I will be doing a lot of the cooking, so if you want to see if I can actually cook, come to this event. Click here to get on the mailing list, or email me.
• Next week finds me in Seattle, where on July31 I will be joining former Top Chef contestant Robin Leventhal at her new restaurant Stopsky’s Deli. Robin and I are planning to do a wild food take on Jewish classics: wild greens knishes, duck gizzard pastrami, wild salmon gefilte fish — who knows what else we’ll come up with? Stopsky’s is just about to open, so it’s too early to make reservations, but keep an eye on their website.
• After Labor Day I head East. I start in Raleigh, where on Sept. 12 Chef Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner brings the wild foods of North Carolina to her innovative restaurant. Chef Christensen doesn’t do fancy — she does good, seasonal comfort food. Add a dash of wild ingredients and it’ll be perfect for North Carolina. They don’t take reservations, but call 919 832 4477 for details.
• I head to New York City from there, and on Sept. 22 I will be at the acclaimed restaurant Public, where Chef Brad Farmerie will fuse his Asian-inspired cooking style with local, wild ingredients. Brad is an especially good nose-to-tail and  fish cook, so I expect to see some wobbly bits and unusual local fish on the menu. I expect this dinner to sell out. Click here for reservations or call 212 343 7011.
• On to Boston, where on Sept. 28 I will be doing a wild food, nose-to-tail New England feast with Chef Tony Maws of Craigie on Main. Much of my family lives in Massachusetts, so I am looking forward to something of a homecoming here. Craigie on Main is one of the best restaurants in Boston, so this should be a very special night. Click here for to make a reservation (top right corner of the site) or call 617 497 5511.
• I dip down to Providence after Boston, where on October 2 Chef Matt Jennings of Farmstead’s La Laiterie Bistro is planning a wild Rhody feast. I first started fishing and foraging on Block Island, just off the coast of Rhode Island, so I am really looking forward to this. I have no idea what Matt will come up with, but it had better have quahogs! Call 401 274 7177 for reservations.
• On October 5 I will be in Pittsburgh at the restaurant Eleven. Pennsylvania is one of the most hunting-est, fishing-est places in the country, so I can’t wait to see how Chef Derek Stevens interprets that. Yellow perch and venison ought to make an appearance, I think… Click here or call 412 201 5656 for reservations.
• Finally, on October 11 I will be back in my old stomping grounds of the Twin Cities, where Chef Scott Pampuch of The Corner Tablewill try to bring together as many wild Minnesota ingredients as he can. Minnesota is home to some world-class wild foods, from real, hand-harvested Ojibwe wild rice to walleye to game to wild berries. They don’t take reservations, but call 612 823 0011 for details.

Phew! That’s what I have nailed down so far. I am also talking with a second restaurant in Seattle – Seattle has been so good to me I want to do two events there — as well as a restaurant in Washington DC; I hope to have both events confirmed soon. I am also in the midst of plans for events in Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego. Nothing is firm on any of these yet, but I will keep my Classes, Appearances and Events page current.
I am trying to set up signings and other speaking events in each city where I have a book dinner, so if you know any place that might be a good fit, let me know. Also, if you think I ought to come to your city, email me and let’s see what we can set up. I know my tour is big city-centric, but I’d be more than happy to head to a smaller town if you think we can get a large enough crowd.
I’m starting to feel the excitement, finally. I have so many friends out there I’ve never met, and I really want to meet as many of you in person as I can. Hopefully I will see you at one of these book events, so we can talk, raise a glass and eat some fantastic food together. Wish me luck, and I’ll see you out there!