Author Talk: Steve Hoffman in Conversation with Carrie Nahabedian

The Alliance is delighted to welcome writer, author, and tax preparer Steven Hoffman for a talk on his new book A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France.

The lyrical American food writing tradition passed down from Richard Olney and M.F.K. Fisher has found a worthy contemporary successor in a writer named Steve Hoffman.

—Alice Waters, American chef, restaurateur, food writer, and author

Doors at 6:00 p.m. Program will begin at 6:30.

In his poignant, delicious memoir, Steve tells the story of how he and his family move to the French countryside, where the locals upend everything he knows about food, wine, and learning how to belong.

Join us for a reading from the book, followed by a discussion between the author and James Beard Award winner Carrie Nahabedian, Co-Owner and Executive Chefof Brindille. The program will be followed by a book signing and festive reception in the Eleanor Wood Prince Salon, featuring a complimentary glass of rosé—just the thing to take off the winter chill! Copies of There’s a Season for That will be available for purchase at the event from our partners at Chicagoland independent bookseller The Book Stall.

Praise for A Season for That

Several national publications have reviewed the book or included it in their B"Best of 2024 " lists:

• Eric Asimov of the New York Times listed it as one of the best wine books of 2024.
• Food & Wine included the book on their list of favorite food books of 2024.
• Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal included it on her list of best holiday books for every type of wine lover.
• Saveur magazine called it one of the best narrative food books of the year.
• Decanter Magazine named it among their best wine and spirits books of 2024.
• The Washington Post reviewed the book favorably.
• Tamlyn Currin of jancisrobinson.com ​said “it might be the best autobiography I’ve ever read.”

About the Author

Steve Hoffman is a Minnesota tax preparer and food writer. When he dies, the tax-preparer-food-writer industry will die with him. He is a French speaker and shameless Francophile. His writing has won multiple awards, including the 2019 James Beard M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. He has been published in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Artful Living magazine.

Hoffman shares one acre on Turtle Lake in Shoreview, MN, with his wife, Mary Jo; their elderly and entitled puggle, Jack; roughly 80,000 honeybees; and a nesting pair of sandhill cranes who summer in the back yard.

About Carrie Nahabedian

After departing her position as Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Carrie Nahabedian returned to her native Chicago to open NAHA in 2000, which garnered her a James Beard Award and seven consecutive Michelin stars. Carrie opened Brindille in the spring of 2013 along with partner and cousin Michael. While NAHA served to highlight her Armenian roots, Brindille’s refined Parisian fare celebrates the Nahabedian cousins’ favorite spots in Paris.