A Spring Afternoon Tea with Chef & Cookbook Author Danielle Alvarez

It was a complete delight to host and interview Danielle Alvarez at our Spring Afternoon Tea with An Author. Her story of courage to accomplishment was inspiring to all; in Danielle’s words “sometimes you just need to be BOLD enough to ask the question. And ask she did many times which led to her spending time working in the kitchens of The French Laundry & Chez Panisse in California, Fred's in Paddington and is now working as the Culinary Director of the Event spaces at the Sydney Opera House.
Danielle shared her thoughtful recipes, wisdom, and her favourite way of cooking: at home, for and with friends and family, which is recorded in this latest book Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking.
"Feeding people delicious, seasonal, responsibly sourced food and teaching people how to make the same delicious food for themselves is my purpose in life." Danielle  

Recipes from the book on the table for afternoon tea were light as a feather, cheesy Comte Gourges, a complex in flavour Pumpkin Galette, moreish Strawberry, Ricotta & Spelt Loaf and chewy Ricciarelli Biscuits to share, served with fragrant teas. It was all fabulous and our guests went home nourished and inspired, with a signed copy of the cookbook to guide them to deliciousness in their own home kitchen.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 

Danielle Alvarez lives for cooking. It brings joy and calm like nothing else, and it is where she works out her anxieties and falls in love, over and over. Born in Miami to a Cuban family, Danielle's cooking journey includes time in some of the best California kitchens, including the Berkeley institution Chez Panisse. She was lured to Australia in 2016 to helm the kitchen of now beloved Sydney restaurant Fred's, from which she moved on in 2022. Returning to her home kitchen, she has relished rediscovering home cooking flavours, both how exceptional they can be - often better than in a restaurant - as wells as the particular skills needed to coax them out.

Danielle has a regular column in Good Weekend, cooks regularly at events and pop-ups around the country, and her time out of the kitchen is dedicated to writing, consulting and cookbook-making. She hopes Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking can be a teacher, entertainer and friend, and has chosen each and every recipe with a view to bringing happiness to readers' tables. She lives by the ocean in Sydney with her partner and Ripley, her King Charles Cavalier.

Libby Travers is an author, food writer and food commentator who for has worked alongside some of the best chefs, producers and wholesalers for more than two decades. Her interest in food particularly focuses on its place in a country's culture and customs - with a soft spot for all things French. Fortunate to have three wonderful locations jostling for the title "home", she continues the search for good food, wine and bonheur between Provence, Crete and Australia.

Images and text from Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez with Libby Travers, photography by Alan Benson. Published by Murdoch Books