The daughter and granddaughter of consummate Southern cooks, Virginia Willis is also a classically trained French chef. These divergent influences come together splendidly in Bon Appétit, Y'all, a modern Southern chef's passionate and utterly appealing homage to her culinary roots. Espousing a simple-is-best philosophy, Virginia uses the finest ingredients, concentrates on sound French technique, and lets the food shine in a style she calls "refined Southern cuisine." More than 200 approachable and consistently delicious recipes are arranged by chapter into starters and nibbles; salads and slaws; eggs and dairy; meat, fowl, and fish main dishes; sides; biscuits and breads; soups and stews; desserts; and sauces and preserves. Collected here are stylishly updated Southern and French classics (New SouthernChicken and Dumplings, Boeuf Bourgignonne), rib-sticking, old-timey favorites (Meme's Fried Okra, Angel Biscuits), and perfectly executed comfort food (Mama's Apple Pie, Fried Catfish Fingers with Country Rémoulade). Nearly 100 photographs bring to life both Virginia's food and the bounty of her native Georgia. You'll also find a wealth of tips and techniques from a skilled and innovative teacher, and the stories of a Southern girl steeped to her core in the food, kitchen lore, and unconditional hospitality of her culinary forebears on both sides of the Atlantic. Bon Appétit, Y'all is Virginia's way of saying, "Welcome to my Southern kitchen. Pull up a chair." Once you have tasted her food, you'll want to stay a good long while.
Virginia Willis has cooked Lapin Normandie with Julia Child, prepared lunch for President Clinton, and catered a bowling party for Jane Fonda. She began her culinary career tossing pizzas in college, has since foraged for wild herbs in the Alps, made mustard in Dijon, crushed olives in California, and harvested capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily. Her first job in a professional kitchen was as an apprentice for Nathalie Dupree's TV cooking show on PBS. Willis has subsequently produced over 1000 TV episodes, working for Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Epicurious on The Discovery Channel.
She is the author of the acclaimed cookbook, Bon Appétit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking (Ten Speed Press, 2008). Her latest book, Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company (Ten Speed Press, 2011) was rated as one of the top cookbooks of 2011. Virginia was also recently named by the Chicago Tribune as one of "Seven Food Writers You Need to Know."
A graduate of L'Academie de Cuisine and Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne, she previously honed her attention to detail as the Kitchen Director for Martha Stewart Living Television where she supervised the food segments for the Emmy-award winning television show. Virginia's wide and varied food career started in Atlanta as an apprentice to Nathalie Dupree. She worked with Dupree on four PBS series and cookbooks, including the James Beard award- winning Comfortable Entertaining. She also spent several years as an editorial assistant with culinary authority Anne Willan on various projects including Cook It Right, an exhaustive tome that documents the various states of "doneness" (and over- and under-"doneness") of everything from whipped cream to braised pheasant.
She has been featured in USA Today, Country Living, and House Beautiful as well as on Leite'sCulinaria.com, Food52, CNN.com. She is a contributing editor to Southern Living and her writing has been published in Family Fun, the Washington Post, and Taste of the South. She has appeared on Martha Stewart Living Television, Paula Deen's Best Dishes, Mad Hungry Television, Real Simple Television, The Weather Channel, and Thrown Down with Bobby Flay. (For her compilation reel see here.) As a nationally recognized culinary professional, her client list includes Calphalon, Char-Broil, The Coca-Cola Company, Fresh Express, Olive Garden, and Whole Foods Market.
Virginia is on the Atlanta Community Food Bank Advisory Board. She is a past President of the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a member of Georgia Organics, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Southern Foodways Alliance, and Women Chefs & Restaurateurs.
