Buttermilk Grafitti by Edward Lee is the Battle Creek Reads selection for 2024.

Buttermilk Grafitti (2018) follows Lee as he travels around the country, eating food and learning about life from many of the diverse cultures that make up the “melting pot” of America. His goal? To find out how traditional cuisines  – and people  – change when they cross our borders.

This nonfiction memoir is a culinary journey that tantalizes the taste buds and explores the vibrant tapestry of American food culture. Lee, a fearless and innovative chef, takes readers on a thrilling gastronomic adventure across the United States, unraveling the diverse flavors and stories embedded in each city’s culinary landscape. From the sizzling streets of New Orleans to the bustling markets of New York City, Lee’s narrative is a kaleidoscope of culinary discovery, blending traditional recipes with unexpected twists. This book is not just a feast for the senses; it’s a celebration of the rich mosaic of cultures that shape America’s ever-evolving food scene, making every page an exhilarating exploration of taste, tradition, and the magic that happens when cultures collide in the kitchen.

Winner, 2019 James Beard Award for Best Book of the Year in Writing

Finalist, 2019 IACP Award, Literary Food Writing

Named a Best Food Book of the Year by the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, BookRiot, and more

“Thoughtful, well researched, and truly moving. Shines a light on what it means to cook and eat American food, in all its infinitely nuanced and ever-evolving glory.”
—Anthony Bourdain

Author Visit

Thursday, April 18, 2024
6:30 p.m.
Kool Family Community Center
200 W. Michigan Ave.

Doors will open at 6:00 p.m.

Books will be available for purchase, and the author will sign books at the event.

Edward Lee is the author of Smoke & Pickles and Buttermilk Graffiti; chef/owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky; and culinary director of Succotash in National Harbor, Maryland, and Penn Quarter, Washington DC. He appears frequently in print and on television, including earning an Emmy nomination for his role in the Emmy Award-winning series The Mind of a Chef. Most recently, he wrote and hosted the feature documentary Fermented. He lives in Louisville and Washington, DC.

Books are available at both library locations.

Buttermilk Graffiti is available on Hoopla in both ebook and audiobook format, free to download with a Willard Library card.

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Past Selections

2023 – The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

2022 – The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden

2021 – A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

2021 – The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

2020 – A Dog Called Hope by Jason Morgan

2019 – The Long Haul by Finn Murphy

2019 – This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick

2018 – South of Superior by Ellen Airgood

2017 – The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

2017 – Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

2016 – Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

2016 – Delicious! by Ruth Reichl

2015 – A Secret Gift by Ted Gup

2015 – Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

2014 – The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian

2014 – An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff

2013 – The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

2013 – The Eighty-Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts

2013 – The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2013 – The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

2012 – Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

2012 – Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

2011 – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

2010 – The Soloist by Steve Lopez

2009 – How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill

2008 – The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

2007 – Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

2006 – Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde