Dad, What's for Dinner? - by David Nayfeld & Joshua David Stein (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A cookbook of recipes for fathers, for cooking for and with children"--

Book Synopsis

The dad's guide to getting dinner on the table; more than 80 unfussy, uncompromising recipes for weeknights and beyond. With a foreword by Gwyneth Paltrow.

I am a professional chef. I've spent twenty-seven of my forty years in some of the best kitchens in the world. . . . And still, when my daughter, Helena, asks, "Dad, what's for dinner?" it gets me every time.

This is a book for dads (and moms, and grandparents, and caregivers, and anyone else who needs to get dinner on the table without cooking the same old thing again). It's a book that believes "kids' food" can, and should, mean more than just buttered noodles or chicken fingers. In its pages, chef David Nayfeld translate his decades of professional expertise into something that all parents can use to become more confident and creative in the kitchen, and better able to care for their toughest customers--their kids.

The result is a collection of more than eighty hearty, good-for-you recipes the whole family will love, from Italian Sausage and Broccolini Lasagna to The Best Fricking Meatloaf in the World; from Tomato and Bread Salad (it still counts as a salad!) to Cuppycakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

Nayfeld's goal is to empower home cooks, giving them the tools, strategies (the wonders of batch-cooking!), and recipes to break a reliance on frozen foods and takeout. It's a book that helps to bring families together at the dinner table and to raise more adventurous eaters. And, most of all, it's a book that answers the all-important question: Dad, what's for dinner? (or lunch, or breakfast, or . . .)

Review Quotes

"As a father myself I can attest to the challenge of feeding your kids. In Dad, What's for Dinner? David helps dads (and other parents) everywhere get delicious dinner on the table." --Tom Colicchio, chef and owner of Crafted Hospitality

"Anyone who has kids knows how hard it can be to get food on the table. David makes it possible to make real, delicious meals (and even include your kids in the process!). In my book, he has cemented himself as an honorary Italian for life." --Giada De Laurentiis

"David Nayfeld is one of America's best chefs and one of my favorite human beings. So it's no surprise that this gorgeous and beautifully organized book comes from his kitchen, and his desire for us all to cook and care for each other in the best and most delicious way possible. As a single dad myself, this makes so much sense, from batch-cooking to snack times. Dad, What's for Dinner? gives anyone interested in elevating their food game for their family a huge boost." --Andrew Zimmern

"The fact that we get to have some of David's recipes in print feels too good to be true. He somehow finds ways to make indulgent food feel worth it, to make complex flavor profiles feel effortless. He has a consistently unpretentious approach to making food; you can feel his rebellious personality in all his dishes, throwing out any conventional rules. There is a reason why his restaurants are impossible to get into, but always welcoming. Even writing this is making me hungry." --Erin Foster, creator of Nobody Wants This

"I've known David since 2008 when he joined the team at Eleven Madison Park. In the years since, his life has changed . . . A LOT. He's grown into one of America's great chefs, owns one of America's great restaurants, and most important, has become a dad! In this book, he shows us how to bring delicious and gracious hospitality into our homes, and how to care for the biggest VIPs of all: our children." --Will Guidara, restaurateur and New York Times bestselling author of Unreasonable Hospitality

About the Author

David Nayfeld worked with some of the best chefs in the world before co-creating Back Home Hospitality and opening the group's first restaurant, Che Fico, in San Francisco, which was named one of the best new restaurants in America by Bon Appetit and Esquire. He is also the chef and co-owner of Che Fico Parco Menlo, Il Mercato di Che Fico, and Che Fico Pizzeria, and was Star Chefs' 2019 Rising Star Chef. Most recently, Nayfeld was named a semifinalist for the 2023 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef.

Joshua David Stein is a journalist, author, and editor. He has served as the editor at large at Fatherly and Out magazines, the editor in chief of BlackBook and Avenue, and the senior editor at Departures. His work has appeared in The New York Times, New York, Esquire, GQ, Hemispheres, among many other publications. Previously, Stein was the restaurant critic for the Village Voice and the New York Observer. He is the co-author of Notes from a Young Black Chef with Kwame Onwuachi; Il Buco: Stories & Recipes with Donna Lennard; the Nom Wah Cookbook: Recipes and Stories with Wilson Tang; Why I Cook? with Tom Colicchio; and Vino: The Essential Guide with Joe Campanale. His children's books include, among others, Can I Eat That?, What's Cooking, Brick: Who Found Herself in Architecture, Solitary Animals, and Lunch from Home. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his two sons, Augustus and Achilles.