Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking is just hitting the top of the New York Times bestseller list this week. And though Julie & Julia author Julie Powell (not to mention Meryl Streep) is getting much of the credit, the woman responsible for putting it on bookshelves in the first place is Knopf editor Judith Jones. She took a chance on the book after it had been rejected from another publisher as out of sync with the can-opening times, and over the next five decades she went on to polish the work of plenty more culinary all-stars, including Marcella Hazan, Edna Lewis, and Jeffrey Steingarten. On October 21, Jones will be in town to talk about her own book, The Pleasures of Cooking for One.
She’s inaugurating Stir Food Group and Hooks Books Events’ new Food for Thoughts author series at Zola Wine + Kitchen (505 Ninth St., NW; 202-654-2855). The event, which runs from 6 to 8, will include a discussion with Jones and a cooking demo. The $75 ticket price includes a copy of her book, a round of appetizers made from its recipes, and two glasses of wine. And of course, the chance to ask the funny, frank Jones about her adventures with Child. Oh, how we’d have loved to see Judith & Julia play out on the big screen.
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Legendary Editor Judith Jones Dishes on Julia Child (and her Imitators)
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Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
