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| Nach Waxman | |
Nach Waxman, founder in 1983 of Kitchen Arts & Letters, the New York City bookstore "where foodies flock," as the New York Times put it, died August 4. He was 84.
Waxman "combined his seasoning in anthropology and nonfiction editing to found a Manhattan bookstore that became a global mecca for chefs, cooks, culinary academics, epicurean writers and just about anyone who enjoyed eating as much as he did," the Times continued.
The store was "a go-to source for all kinds of culinary history and customs, as well as for recipes that he insisted should be sources of creative inspiration rather than rigid paint-by-numbers templates. Faced with a dining challenge, customers knew whom to call."
Waxman called Kitchen Arts & Letters "a repository of books that are not only what you can't get elsewhere, but beyond what you knew existed." He added, "It isn't just a cookbook store. You can find books on the microbiology of cheese manufacturing, the role of gastronomy in Molière's plays. You can find books on kitchen antiques, contemporary agriculture, biotechnology."
Waxman received a B.A. in anthropology from Cornell University, then pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago and at Harvard, where he enrolled in a doctoral program in South Asian anthropology. Before finishing, he became a book editor, working for 20 years at Macmillan, Harper & Row and Crown before opening Kitchen Arts & Letters.
Waxman also became well known in foodie circles for his recipe for brisket that was included in The New Basics by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso. "I probably get as many calls and correspondence about that recipe as about anything I've ever done," Waxman said.
Last year, the store raised more than $100,000 through a GoFundMe campaign after suffering major losses in revenue because of Covid-19.
"Within the past decade, Waxman stopped coming into the store each day and shifted to 'semi-retirement'--which, to him, meant a constant search for rare or out-of-print books to add to the store," Patch observed. Matt Sartwell, who began working in the store as a bookseller in 1991, is co-owner and will keep the store open.