Bookshelf: Chef Brandon Trowbridge of Nola

The chef whose bookshelf I'd like a peek at is Perry Hoffman, my chef in Yountville and the youngest Michelin recipient in the US. He must have begun reading at a young age to get where he is today and I would love to see what he has stashed away.

If you only ever read one book about New Orleans, make it ... the nove/cookbook Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, And Can You Make a Roux? by Marcelle Bienvenu. For something a little more entertaining: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

My favorite book from childhood is Oh, the Things You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss. And a little bit later, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

The book that changed my life was A Farewell to Arms. Most of Hemmingway's books instilled the truth that life is not fair and regardless of how much work is put into something, it can lost without compensation.

If I cooked a meal to represent that book, it would be Risotto Milanese with braised Osso Bucco. Seems their happiest days were spent in Milan; I would have a dish to remember this town.

The character in a book I'd most like to be is James Bond or Darcy from Pride & Prejudice.

The character in a book I've had a crush on is Karla from Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram.

The book I'd most like somebody to leave behind on one of my tables is The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal. Happy birthday to me if that shows up. We also have a community bookshelf upstairs. Feel free to drop off anything, though – we are not picky.

Comic book nod: If Gambit were to walk into Nola, he'd order andouille jambalaya and pecan pie. Unless it was Monday – then he would have red beans and rice with peach cobbler.

The fictional world I'd most like to be part of is that of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. If something doesn't suit him he does not waste time trying to change others, he just moves on to something more his style. Catching comets would beat subways.

My favorite quote from a book: "Fate gives all of us three teachers, three friends, three enemies, and three great loves in our lives. But these twelve are always disguised, and we can never know which one is which until we've loved them, left them, or fought them." - Lin, Shantaram

Photo: Sui