Ruhlman: Signing, Demo
Nov 19, 2007 events, general food
Sorry for the delay…
When I went to Borders to meet Michael Ruhlman a couple weeks ago I was incredibly early. But as a book fan I love Borders, and so with time to kill I began looking around. At one point, out of the corner of my eye, I realized Ruhlman was standing beside me looking at a few cookbooks of his own, and maybe this is dumb, but as excited as I was I wasn’t sure if I should bother him and say hello or just let him be. I opted for the the latter as I knew I’d be meeting him soon enough at the semi-official book signing.
And semi describes it accurately. It amounted to Ian arriving and introducing himself to Ruhlman, the other two of us there at the time doing the same, and then our just standing around talking for about 30 minutes in the middle of the store. In the end I felt silly even having him sign my book as the most rewarding part of the evening was the conversation. We talked about blogging, Ian’s reviews, the St. Louis dining scene, and of course pork and the two pounds of Hinkebein cheeks in my freezer before anyone else had even arrived. As others trickled it became obvious that just like my chefs are people too comment, Ruhlman is a great guy. He seemed genuinely interested in what each of us had to say and has a real passion for talking about the pleasures of food. In fact, the conversation with everyone was so lively we almost got kicked out of Borders. Oh, and apparently the ladies swoon for Mr. Ruhlman as well — who knew.
I can’t really convey how cool it was to meet someone I have such respect for and for whom I’d been so eager to meet. Unlike most people, my nervous tick is that I actually speak more than normal. If you know me, it’s hard to imagine my talking more than I do, and for once it worked out beautifully because instead of sounding like a goober mustering up something stupid like “you guys were great” the way I would at the end of a concert, I was able to take part in an articulate exchange that I am grateful to Ian for having arranged.
And of course I did have him sign my book, and as silly as it might seem to me, I certainly didn’t regret doing so when I read the inscription:
“To Bill, Good luck with the bloging and the pork cheeks”
Pretty awesome I have to say, and it’s definitely one of my favorite autographs ever. An interesting side note: my all time favorite is from a chef in Chicago, Paul Kahan, who coincidentally wrote one of the back cover blurbs on Ruhlman’s new book.
As for the steeply priced Viking demo…
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