by Melanie Coates for the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, a ‘Certified Good Food fighter‘

Nigella Lawson, award winning food writer, will share her love for the kitchen at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts’ latest edition of the Iconic Voices book series on Friday, November 12, 2010. Lawson celebrates the release of her new book Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home. She will be the special guest at a reception, dinner and question period held in The Ballroom at The Fairmont Royal York. Alison Fryer from Toronto’s The Cookbook Store, will host the dinner featuring Lawson’s highly anticipated new recipes, expertly prepared by Executive Chef David Garcelon and his culinary brigade.

The Iconic Voices book series celebrates authors and their accomplishments in the literary world. The November 12 culinary salon will be the first of the Iconic Voices series to celebrate a cookbook author. Kitchen focuses on the most important room in the house, the kitchen, and features feel good food for all levels of chefs. Guests will experience a dinner menu of recipe highlights selected by Nigella Lawson from her latest book. Each attendee will receive a copy of Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home.

“This book is simply the story of my love affair with the kitchen.  Whatever the opposite of the currently still fashionable genre, the misery memoir, might be, this is it: a comfort chronicle,” said Lawson about her inspiration for Kitchen.

Informative and engaging, Kitchen offers food for both cooks and eaters. Kitchen is seductive and nostalgic but with a modern twist, from “express” style recipes for the time-strapped, hectic week to leisurely slow-cook dishes for weekends and special occasions. It answers everyday cooking quandaries – from how to rustle up a meal for friends in moments to what to do about those black bananas – and since real cooking is so often about leftovers, Nigella makes “leftovers right,” by showing us how to morph one recipe into another: from ham hocks to peas soups and pastries, braised chicken to Chinatown salad.

The wine and canapé reception starts at 6:30 p.m. and the three-course dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 12, 2010. Tickets for the event include a copy of Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home, and are $150 including tax and gratuities. To register for the culinary evening with Nigella Lawson, call 416-860-5050, or visit www.ramsayinc.com/html/payments/fairmont/nigellalawson.html.

To make your evening even more luxurious, book an overnight rate starting at $239. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-441-1414 and asking for the “Nigella” rate, or book online at www.fairmont.com/royalyork/vanity/nigellalawsonrate.htm

For more information on Nigella Lawson and her cookbooks, visit www.nigella.com. For more information on Executive Chef David Garcelon and The Fairmont Royal York, visit www.fairmont.com/royalyork.