OP: Black Pudding and Foie Gras

Face, 2008. Hardcover. Near Fine. Signed first printing.

Yorkish chef Andrew Pern and his first restaurant, The Star Inn, have led the revival and fancification of pub food in the UK and beyond. Having held a Michelin star for the better part of Pern’s role at the helm, the chef has proven that pub food can be taken seriously by the guide.

The restaurant’s cookbook—named after its best-selling dish—Black Pudding & Foie Gras (2008), is attractively bound in a chocolate-brown velvety cloth and filled with dramatic photography of the food, staff, and suppliers of the restaurant. Pern’s creative thought processes are woven throughout, which emphasize how seriously he takes his craft and ingredients—as local and seasonal as possible.

Of the dishes themselves, you’ll find:

• Halibut lightly soused with pink peppercorns, lime, and dill over an herby potato salad

• Pheasant braised in a cider and cream sauce with apples, prunes, and leeks; served with celeriac puree

• Elderberry wine-poached egg with toasted bread, onion marmalade, and sauteed mushrooms

• Grilled black pudding with foie gras, of course, garnished with a watercress salad, apple-vanilla chutney, and cider reduction

• Dark chocolate and orange tart with satsuma sorbet

All delightfully welcoming and satisfying fare.

Ours is a Near Fine first printing, signed and inscribed with a note and an illustration by Andrew Pern.