I executed the research, wrote the narrative and food history, collaborated on recipe writing, and oversaw photographic art direction for Convivir: Modern Mexican Cooking in California’s Wine Country. Convivir, which means “to live together,” celebrates the flavorful interweaving of traditional Mexican cuisine with the agricultural and artisanal abundance of California’s wine country. Michelin-starred chef Rogelio Garcia takes inspiration from the local farms, ranches, and sustainable fisheries, along with a deep knowledge of his gastronomical heritage, to showcase more than 150 delectable recipes.
PRAISE FOR CONVIVIR
“In Convivir, Chef Rogelio Garcia uses creative and sumptuous food to share his compelling and improbable personal journey. Gratefully, this beautifully photographed and well-written cookbook inventively expands the narrow conceptions that so many hold about Mexican cuisine.”―ADRIAN MILLER, culinary historian, author, and two-time James Beard Award winner
“Rogelio and Andrea are superb artisans of their respective crafts, with both distinctive recipes and incisive prose. A must for any fan of modern Mexican cuisine.”―TODD MASONIS, founder Dandelion Chocolate and author of Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more
“Convivir is the antidote for those who don’t see the grandeur of Mexican cuisine married with a love of America’s best wine belt; it sits at the intersection of wine and good communal eating, with roots in traditions millennia old stretching across oceans and continents. This is a beautiful, fresh take meant to make you rush into the kitchen.”―MICHAEL TWITTY, author of the James Beard Award-winning The Cooking Gene.
Author’s Bio: Born in Mexico, raised in Northern California with deep connections to local farmers, Rogelio Garcia’s cooking showcases Mexican culinary techniques and locally sourced ingredients. At the age of 31, he earned his first Michelin star, one of only a handful of Mexican chefs worldwide to do so and something he has now achieved at three different restaurants, including most recently (2023) at Auro at The Four Seasons, Calistoga.
Celebraciones Mexicanas, History, Traditions and Recipes is the first cookbook to……to bring the richness and authenticity of the foods of Mexico’s 25 major, national holidays and festivals, from the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Carnaval to Cinco de Mayo.
PRAISE FOR CELEBRACIONES MEXICANAS
“I like to think I have an educated impression of Mexico but reading Celebraciones Mexicanas makes it clear how much I didn’t know before I read the book. You can use it as a reference piece, but if you’re like me, you’ll want to read every word from the beginning and not miss one delicious detail. Both the fiesta and the food are put into context and I get the feeling this will become a treasured family heirloom for those who remember and for those who want to start celebrating a la Mexicana. /Steve Sando, founder, Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Food; author of The Heirloom Beans Grower's Guide and Supper at Rancho Gordo
“To talk about Mexican food is to look well beyond what is actually prepared and consumed to what can be described as “a way of life on plate.” It means embracing cultural practices and shared knowledge that are the common root of Mexico’s gastronomy, extensive and diverse, passed along from generation to generation without recipes but through practice alone. Celebraciones Mexicanas disseminates these practices, traditions, and recipes and in doing so makes an important contribution to traditions of the great nation that is Mexico.”/Enrique Farjeat, assessor, Conservatory of Mexican Gastronomy; representative to UNESCO’s recognition ceremony honoring the addition of Mexican Cuisine to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity
Additional Writing
Andrea Lawson Gray’s Essay “Survivor” was published in the collection Because I Said So: 33 Mothers Write About Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race, & Themselves (Camille Peri and Kate Moses editors, Harper Collins, 2005), and ran as a feature story in MORE magazine. A short memoir, Survivor recounts Lawson Gray’s experience with losing everything and starting over as a single mother in the most expensive city in the country— and the resilience she and her three children. found coming out the other end.
Blog
MY MISSION: Tastes of San Francisco
San Francisco’s Mission District is a foodie paradise, a world of tastes unto itself and a crossroad, where food meets politics and where tech elites meet immigrant families who have been Mission-dwellers for years. Multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, noisy, colorful, aromatic, it’s the perfect place to live and work if you want to write about food, traditions, and culinary justice. A Mission resident since 1999, this is my backyard, a sprawling shopping mall of foods, spices, and flavor; and in it, I am constantly discovering new gems, like a fruit from Mexico that’s only available for a week just before Christmas (tejocotes) or a restaurant that converts its menu and name one night week to support and celebrate free-range, sustainably sourced hogs (Regalito becomes Pigalito on Tuesdays). Join me on a journey to where food is more than a passion, it’s a destination.