My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family, and Big Sur

By Romney Steele

From the family behind Big Sur’s Nepenthe, “an intimate, richly illustrated memoir with recipes culled from the restaurant's sixty years.” (Gourmet magazine)
 
In celebration of Nepenthe Restaurant’s seventieth anniversary comes a revised edition of My Nepenthe, featuring not only delicious recipes from the legendary restaurant, but stories and photographs that capture its history and people.  Written by the owners' granddaughter, Romney Steele, My Nepenthe is as much about the family enterprise as it about the Fassett family legacy.
 
Perched 808 feet above the Pacific Ocean on the breathtaking cliffs of Highway 1 in Big Sur, California, Nepenthe boasts sweeping views of the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains and the wild south coast of Monterey County. This breathtaking location is nestled among native oak trees and historic log cabins that were once owned by Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. The vibrant history is brought to life through archival black-and-white and contemporary color photography by Sara Remington; a collection of eighty-five recipes; stories about the restaurant’s past as a gathering place for artists and writers; and special sections on the filming of The Sandpiper (1965), which featured scenes from Nepenthe’s iconic terrace, as well as Nepenthe’s  relationship with the renowned Pisoni winemaking family.  Ultimately, My Nepenthe is a story about food, family, and the culture of place.
 
“A very special book about a very special place.” —Michael Pollan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food
 
“My Nepenthe serves a big, gorgeous slice of American culture that I loved visiting through words and memory.” —Deborah Madison, James Beard award-winning author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781449413415

Book preview

Reviews for My Nepenthe

[nemoman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is the biography of a family and restaurant it created- Nepenthe- located in Big Sur. In the summer of 73, following my college graduation, I bicycled up Highway 1 from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco. In Big Sur I dined at Nepenthe on the deck overlooking the Pacific, eating an Ambrosia Burger with perhaps the best fries I have had in the States. I still remember that meal. This book contains many recipes; however, it is not a cookbook. Nor is it merely a memoir. Like Big Sur . it is sui generis. Through the restaraunt's architecture, to the owners' embracement of the arts, Nepenthe itself embodied the spirit of Big Sur. This book through its writing, photographs and recipes captures that essence. The book itself is beautifully produced.