OP: An Omelette and a Glass of Wine

Viking, 1985. Hardcover. Very Good. First US printing.

Over the course of her illustrious career, Elizabeth David (1913–1992) wrote, in addition to her many books, pieces for an array of publications—Vogue, House and Garden, Sunday Times, Spectator, and Harper’s Bazaar, to name a few. An Omelette and a Glass of Wine (1984) was the first anthology of those shorter pieces and the only one published within her lifetime.

The essays are wide ranging in length and topic from a brief and barbed paragraph on a server’s inclination to bring a half a bottle of wine to a table of women, despite the full bottle ordered, to an eight-and-a-half page ode to tomatoes, including two recipes and David’s editorial parenthetical about Escoffier’s role in launching the canned tomato industry.
 
Whether you’ve encountered David’s work before or not, the assemblage is a fine introduction to her opinionated, evocative writing. We’re pleased to offer a first US printing in Very Good condition, slight discoloration to the spine and top edge.