Acknowledgments 9
Introduction 13
1 First Date 17
2 Mr. Latte Has a Trick Up His Sleeve 24
3 His Turn 32
4 Cooking with Julia 38
5 Foodies' Face-Off 48
6 The Art of Dining Alone 57
7 A Tough Act to Follow 64
8 The Rooftop Party 72
9 The Man Who Made Me Eat Everything 79
10 Letting Go 84
11 A Safe Place 91
12 About Town with the Bon Vivant 98
13 Show Me, Don't Tell Me 105
14 Dinner When No One Wanted to Be Alone 113
15 Sunday Ritual 119
16 A Visitor from India 126
17 Peeling Away the Past 135
18 Hard Thoughts Soften over Dinner 143
19 When in Rome, Eat Oxtail Stew! 150
20 Heidi Saves the Day 157
21 A Reason to Cook 164
22 Commitment Issues 172
23 Dropping By 180
24 A Few or a Dozen Favorites 190
25 The Engagement Party 205
26 Fine Dining in the Sky 214
27 The Not-So-Secret Tapas Bar 221
28 Eastern Shore Interlude 229
29 Changing Places 238
30 Chez Who? 248
31 Momentary Lapses 257
32 Must Intervene 264
33 Guests in Our Own Home 272
34 Single Cuisine 285
35 Cooking, on Schedule 294
36 The Tart that Took a Year to Bake 305
37 And So to Wed 314
Index 325
Index to Recipes 330