Table of Contents

Preface: Cheers to the Good Life. Bar Bites: Cozy Comforts of the Home Bar. Pairing Food with Cocktails, Wine, and Beer. Recipes and Lore. Cocktail Bites and Classic Club Fare. Wine Bar and Bistro Plates. Brewpub Nibbles and Noshes. Index.

About the Author

Kate Heyhoe is the founder and Executive Editor of GlobalGourmet.com, a pioneering food e-zine, and a contributor to many magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens, Saveur, and Great Chefs. Her cookbooks include Macho Nachos, Harvesting the Dream: The Rags-to-Riches Tale of the Sutter Home Winery, and, most recently, The Stubb's Bar-B-Q Cookbook. Alexandra Grablewski is a well-known food and beverage photographer whose work has appeared in Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, and Wine Spectator as well as in many books.

Reviews

Heyhoe is the founder and executive editor of GlobalGourmet.com, so it's no surprise that her latest creation has the look and feel of a Web site. As small and square as a Mac Mini, with brief text and large photos, the book offers knowledgeable tidbits on how to make 50 or so small bites, the kind that go down nicely with, say, a double martini or a Singapore Sling. Despite its contemporary design, the mood is often retro, in celebration of cocktail party cuisine. Upscale and old school, Heyhoe leads off with Personal Caviar Tortes with Toast Points and follows with Gougere, French cheese puffs made with Gruyere. From there, like any good global gourmet, she jet-sets across many an international boundary, visiting such diverse cuisines as Japanese (Rumaki with Soba Noodles) and North African (Spicy Tunisian Sunset Dip). For partygoers who prefer a cold Brooklyn lager over a Long Island iced tea, a chapter entitled "Brewpub Nibbles and Noshes" suggests such spice-fueled beer snacks as Cumin-Cheddar Coins and Smoky Chipotle Chili. Along the way, Heyhoe includes historical tidbits, such as the free-for-all that was Studio 54 and Austria's importance to Mexican beer. Dorothy Parker's cultural importance is crammed onto a single page, but plenty of her bon mots are quoted for anyone in need of breaking the ice. "(Oct.)" ("Publishers Weekly," June 4, 2007)