Cheesecake: A Novel

From New York Times-bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a delectable novel following an ancient recipe for cheesecake as it spreads through the Upper West side-from the restaurant of a conniving landlord to the kitchens of the old-school New Yorkers he s trying to force out-and to the parties, feasts, and apartments they re not willing to give up that easily. The Katsikases have found a home in New York. A Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated in hopes of opening a restaurant, they ve found the perfect storefront on the up-and-coming Upper West Side. They decide to call it The Katz Brothers. (Close enough, they think.) The diner becomes a neighborhood favorite-until Art Katsikas begins buying up all the real estate he can, forcing out their old "regulars" and scheming to replace the neighborhood s strudel shops and artists with ritzy boutiques and the nouveau riche. Meanwhile, at The Katz Brothers, the Katsikases rush to prepare for this new clientele by introducing a new "modern classical cuisine," changing the diner s name to "Mykonos," and deciding to serve "Cato s Cheesecake," an ancient Roman recipe known to be the oldest ever found. Sure enough, the enigmatic recipe is a hit, even minted by the New York Times restaurant critic. Soon the cheesecake is all over the Upper West Side, and wild interpretations of Cato s vision appear at the parties, feasts, and bakeries of old New Yorkers struggling to keep their withering community alive. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage and spite, the cheesecake becomes a herald of change as the Upper West Side-and New York s food scene-are transformed for good.

Ideal for readers interested in historical fiction.