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Paging through the newly released Berghoff Family Cookbook is like coming home to my own memories of the famed Berghoff Restaurant. The Berghoff remained a family institution for more than 100 years and this beautiful full-color volume highlights 150 of the traditional Berghoff classics as well as offering history, entertaining tips and even event menus. Author Carlyn Berghoff, a fourth generation member of the prominent Chicago family, provides insights about this first publication that she and her mother, Jan, have written. As a successful entrepreneur, caterer, restaurateur and author, Carlyn is also founder of Artistic Events, a 20-year-old catering company, and the owner of Chicago’s Berghoff Café and 17/west at the Berghoff at the same 17 West Adams location.

SM: Beyond your famed, once closely held family secret recipe for creamed spinach that is revealed in this book, what other dishes do people frequently ask about?
Carlyn: Well, they ask about spinach 10:1, but apple strudel is certainly a favorite. Specific dishes are a part of their memories, so they want to recreate them. The cookbook offers a blend of old and new, classics and lighter fare. Frankly, though, some recipes can’t be altered. Creamed spinach does need at least half and half, butter and real granulated garlic to work.

SM: Why is this a timely book?
Carlyn: The best recipes are handed down though the generations. With my mom, I wanted to capture the essence of our family history in the restaurant and include our family favorites. So, the title of Berghoff Family Cookbook: From Our Table to Yours, Celebrating a Century of Entertaining really describes what this book is all about.

SM: You’ve had an overwhelming response.
Carlyn: Yes, we sold 25,000 copies and actually sold out in the first three weeks of launching, just last month. The next printing will be ready in November, so we look forward to meeting the demand. I’ve also produced a line of four products: a beer sampler set, an apron, a kitchen towel and a cookbook holder that have been selling very well.

SM: There’s a nice twist to party menu planning in this book as well; why did you include such a substantial entertainment section?
Carlyn: I wanted the entertainment value to be strong in this book, and the varied menus for seasonal parties with party checklists offer really practical information.

SM: This book is so much more than a recipe book, though. It is literally visually filled with your family history.
Carlyn: We’ve highlighted menus throughout the years, family portraits, our family’s famed stained glass windows and murals. The photography is really important and all of the recipes have been fully tested for the home cook, of course.

SM: What’s next?
Carlyn: I’m working on an entertainment book, and would like to do a children’s book, which was my first publishing concept. I am obsessed with how parents are not feeding their children well and that meals often mean drive-through food. Working with Nancy Ross Ryan as writer was fate, and she really understood what we were all about with this project.

SM: Yes, she told me that working on this book was one of the highlights of her career and a wonderful experience. The fun part was writing your family story, because you have a family archivist and family members she could contact, which has also developed into a friendship with you.
Carlyn: We are all so pleased with this publication. I wouldn’t actually change a thing in it and when my mom and I first saw it, it took our breath away.

SM: Well, you are in the top 10 of cookbook sales.
Carlyn: Yes, we hope that with this next printing next month, readers will be able to take the Berghoff Family Cookbook home for the holidays, and just in time for seasonal entertaining.

Author Sharon Meyers

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