{"product_id":"cheesecake-mark-kurlansky-9781639735723","title":"Cheesecake","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a  delectable novel following one Manhattan block as an ancient  cheesecake recipe-and a conniving landlord-change the  Upper West Side forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWest 86th Street knows its desserts. It's the 1970s, and poppyseed strudel, praline ice  cream cake, and New York cheesecake are as integral to Manhattan's Upper West Side  as clustered pigeons, suited doormen, and greasy diners. That is, until Cato comes to  town. Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE, is credited with the earliest written  recipe ever found. A recipe for . . . cheesecake. No cream cheese, no graham cracker  crust, somehow savory and sweet, the recipe is enigmatic-and suddenly, it's all  anyone on West 86th Street can talk about. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Katsikases, a Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated to open a restaurant  in New York, added Cato's pastry to their menu as a ploy to attract \"upscale\" diners.  After a glowing write-up in the Times, the recipe becomes a neighborhood fixation-and the Katsikases' patriarch, Art, buys up as much of the block's real estate as he can.  As the portentous pastry appears in the lives of the old-school residents Art is pricing  out of their apartments, a sidewalk view of West 86th Street emerges: A high-profile  family planning a high-pressure bat mitzvah, a painter's muse with a terrible secret,  an eccentric art collector plotting revenge. Sometimes laced with green M\u0026amp;Ms,  sometimes with sage, sometimes with spite, Cato's cheesecake heralds change as  West 86th Street is transformed for good.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mark Kurlansky","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":50223278293235,"sku":"9781639735723","price":44.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781639735723.jpg?v=1786088960","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/cheesecake-mark-kurlansky-9781639735723","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}