Navigating Food Waze
Forthcoming titles not only point readers to the best bites and pours but also explore how history and geography gave rise to travelers’ favorite dishes.
50 States, 1,000 Eats
Joe Yogerst. National Geographic, Mar.
Yogerst, whose previous guides include 50 States, 5,000 Ideas, maps out emblematic dishes in every U.S. state and Canadian province. Entries begin with a brief cultural history—he differentiates, for instance, the rural Acadian roots of Louisiana’s Cajun cooking from the role enslaved African Americans had in developing New Orleans’s Creole cuisine—then shares the food festivals, neighborhood joints, and fine-dining establishments where readers will find the best examples of regional specialties.
A Beautiful Pint
Ian Ryan, illus. by Zebadiah Keneally. Bloomsbury, Feb. Under the social media handle @ShitLondonGuiness (249,000 Instagram followers), Ryan, an Irishman living in the U.K. capital, shames the bad pints of his adopted city; a companion account, @BeautifulPints, praises the pubs in Ireland and elsewhere that get it right. His book is an illustrated, idiosyncratic marriage of these two impulses, teaching readers to distinguish the swill from the sublime and leading them to the best pints in Ireland, the U.S., Australia—and even London.
Beer Hiking Southern California
Johanna Flashman. Helvetiq, Apr.
Beer Hiking Chicago Jessica Sedgwick and Dan Ochwat. Helvetiq, May
Swiss publisher
Helvetiq released Beer Hiking Switzerland,a guide to drinking and ambling in the publisher’s home country, in 2014, and expanded elsewhere in Europe and into North America in 2021. The latest entries detail one- to-five-hour hikes in urban settings (the Chicago Riverwalk), desert environments (Warren Peak in Joshua Tree National Park), and beyond, each concluding at a brewery or another spot for a refreshing local libation.
Charleston Food Crawls
Jesse Blanco. Globe Pequot, May
Blanco, a longtime media personality in the Savannah– Hilton Head area, cocreated the TV show Eat It and Like It, which highlights regional cuisine. With this guide, he brings his wide-ranging tastes to a neighborhood-by-neighborhood exploration of South Carolina’s famed foodie destination, leading readers to Tex-Mex and barbecue joints in the industrial Upper Peninsula, light bites and craft cocktails on historic King Street, and beyond.
The Eater Guide to Los Angeles Abrams, Apr. The Eater Guide to New York City Abrams, Apr. The food-focused digital media brand highlights immigrant traditions and other influences on each city’s culinary scene. A peek into L.A.’s San Gabriel Valley, home to the largest concentration of Asian Americans in the U.S., reveals family-run noodle houses, Michelin-starred bistros, and afterhours takeout joints, while the Bronx’s cultural smorgasbord is on full display in the variety of locales serving up Ghanaian, Jamaican, and Puerto Rican cuisine.