Since her inaugural cookbook "The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice, and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini” (Workman Publishing) was released in April, chef and author Cara Mangini has been on a non-stop book tour that has landed her in countless cities across the country, on the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post, and in front of the cameras at the Today Show.
On Friday, September 30, Mangini will be appearing at Spice Acres, a Countryside Initiative farm, where she’ll be speaking on the subject of, you guessed it, vegetable butchery, seasonality and versatility. Topics covered will include the chef’s best tips and tricks to grow, shop, cook and eat seasonally. That event begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20. For $50, guests can show up an hour earlier for a meet-and-mingle reception with appetizers and cocktails provided by Spice of Life Catering. Tickets and info are available here.
The following morning at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 1, Mangini will be at the Countryside Farmers’ Market at Howe Meadow demonstrating vegetable butchery techniques using seasonal produce from the market. She’ll be sticking around to sign books and chat about food.
Copies of the Vegetable Butcher will be available for purchase at both events, with proceeds benefiting Countryside.
Mangini, which translates to “little eater” in Italian, received a culinary arts degree from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, worked at Farmstead in St. Helena, and was hired on as one of the first “vegetable butchers” at New York City’s famed Eataly.
In 2012, Mangini moved to Columbus, where she launched Little Eater, first as a seasonal pop-up and later as a produce-inspired restaurant in the North Market. She soon added Little Eater Produce and Provisions, a local and artisanal foods boutique in the same market.
