Chef Eric Ripert Wields Pen, not Knife, at Hill's Kitchen

uploaded to Flickr by Vxia

Gone are the days when celebrity authors — ok, call them candidates — signed books at Trover Books. At present, food certainly has more cache in the neighborhood than books; Sweetgreen brings in the crowd in a way that the newly minted Congress members’ autobiographies weren’t able to. But there’s an upcoming signing appearance by a celebrity chef that’s got the foodie crowd going ga ga.

Eric Ripert, of the famed Le Bernardin and DC’s West End, will be signing books Thursday night at Hill’s Kitchen at 6 p.m. The author is taking time off from the line and his PBS cooking show “Avec Eric” to promote his new book Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert.

When I come across Eric on WETA, truly, it’s his shock of salt and pepper hair that gives me pause. But then he snaps his apron, gracefully juliennes an onion and introduces a categories of recipes like “Everything is Better with Bacon” and I drool. Recipes such as Roasted Figs, Chevre Fondant and Bacon Ice Cream and Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, could rightly inspire hysteria, which makes Ripert a rockstar in my book any day.