Mario Lopez arrived alone, with no posse, publicist or security. In fact, I was waiting with Book Passage staff at the normal front entrance at Book Passage in the Ferry Building and he arrived from the back. He simply walked in, and charmingly said hello to those who had lined up outside for his book signing. I was pretty much used to celebrities arriving with a little bit more buzz and fanfare and was pleasantly pleased at his calm demeanor. He greeted the crowd and before he took a seat, he posed for photographs.

The charmed life of Maria Menounos is the epitome of the American Dream. Her personal story growing up in a country with working-class immigrant parents trying to make ends meet is definitely one to embrace. Her ideals and visions are nothing short of admirable. Maria’s commendable determination in life is an ongoing process and her book The EveryGirl’s Guide To Life imparts this priceless character trait and vision to her readers.

It was a match made in literary heaven and when you hold, see and read the finished product in your hand, you would never have imagined that the author and her illustrator were meeting for the first time. That was just one of many interesting facts I gathered from a Thursday afternoon luncheon with new author Maya Soetoro-Ng and her illustrator Yuyi Morales.

As fellow French Laundry colleagues and friends gathered at Book Passage at the Ferry Building to welcome Chef Grant Achatz together with co-author Nick Kokonas for their book signing event, I imagined San Francisco must be a bit of a homecoming venue for him. Hearing him recalling his first try-out day at the French Laundry, meeting Thomas Keller who became an esteemed mentor throughout the years

Tweet A couple weeks ago,  Kaye and I were at Book Passage at the Ferry Building in San Francisco to cover the book signing event for chef and author Grant Achatz and his business partner Nick Kokonas.  As we normally do when we have events such as these, we arrive an hour early to check
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When Anthony Bourdain came to San Francisco promoting his book Medium Raw a year ago he was asked about what restaurant he recommends in New York and his immediate answer was Prune. He went on to say how the chef was a rising star in the culinary world with her unique cuisine and a few months after, I knew why.