No restaurant defines Yankee cooking as well as Boston's Durgin-Park. In an atmosphere of clattering dishes, conversation, and sharp-tongued waitresses, it serves its time-hallowed specialties: roast beef that may be the best anywhere, incredible quantities of Boston baked beans, New England boiled dinners, chowder, apple pie, apple pan dowdy, and hot cornbread.

Few restaurants can claim a tradition as long and entrenched as Durgin-Park. Founded in 1827, it has had only four owners. Chef Tom Ryan has worked there for 40 years and leaned how to cook “the Durgin-Park way.” Many of the legendary waitresses who display an “attitude” towards the customers have worked at Durgin-Park for their entire careers. Franklin Roosevelt ate there when he went to Harvard, Calvin Coolidge was a regular, and Teddy Roosevelt satisfied his hearty appetite there, as did his sons.

The Durgin-Park Cookbook contains not only Tom Ryan's recipes for his classic New England dishes, but the stories and photos make reading the book like a visit to the Boston landmark. Its history, its traditions, its atmosphere, and its commitment to quality are all described and illustrated. This important addition to the Roadfood™ Cookbook series is sure to be a favorite with people in New England and throughout the country.

Other books in the series include El Charro Café Cookbook, The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook, and (coming next January) Louie's Backyard Cookbook (from Key West, Florida).

Jane Stern

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