McSweeney's Launches Cookbook Imprint

Intriguing!

From a piece in Publishers Weekly...

The David Chang journal and app that was announced last week is just the first of a new imprint McSweeney’s Books is launching later this spring. Inspired by the very encouraging response to the food section in a one-off newspaper prototype McSweeney’s published in December 2009, McSweeney’s co-publisher Chris Ying wanted to create an imprint for cookbooks. “The overwhelmingly positive response to that section gave us an inkling that there was a market and demand for a more unconventional approach to cookbooks,” Ying told PW. Describing the imprint, Ying said, “We're trying to make something that appeals not only to foodies, but to readers who appreciate good writing and art in general.”

Ying, who worked as a line cook through college, is running the as-of-yet-unnamed imprint (he said they will be deciding on a name “very soon”). He wanted to bring what he calls “the McSweeney's approach” to cookbooks. So what will McSweeney’s cookbooks look like? If you saw the newspaper, which was called the San Francisco Panorama, you’ll have a good idea. The paper included a food section that featured a visual guide called “Ramen, Deciphered,” in which Chang explained how to make the perfect bowl of ramen.

'Ramen, Deciphered' gives a glimpse into what Chang's journal will look like
Ever since then, Ying said, he, Chang, and Chang’s cowriter on The Momofuku Cookbook, Peter Meehan, had been trying to find a way to work together again. Called Lucky Peach, the book is actually a quarterly print journal; each issue will come with an iPad app. Every issue will focus on a particular dish or ingredient.