Eating Again, no ordinary cookbook, is a therapeutic travelogue. Author Alice Carbone Tench describes her journey as “culinary self-care, Italian food, and a pinch of rock ‘n’ roll.” Visit Alice’s life through her family and friends, her spiritual mentors, her battles with alcoholism and addiction, depression, and eating disorders, her childhood home in the foothills of the Italian Alps, and her cooking. Emerge with not only a collection of plant-based Italian recipes, but with the serenity she’s found and just maybe, with a better, healthier life.

“Food provides a tasty balm for the soul in this stellar debut, a blend of personal stories and heartwarming recipes. When Tench’s therapists “suggested food as a means of getting back in touch” with herself after struggles with bulimia and alcoholism, she turned to her roots and began cooking. Here, she shares the formative dishes of her past, the “one[s] that made me the… woman I finally love and respect” and that eventually inspired her to start her own cooking show, Instagram to Table, in 2019. In luscious prose, Tench recounts discovering her late Italian grandmother’s diaries of “what she ate, what she cooked”—a memory that gives way to a section of traditional Italian recipes, including a simple onion frittata, and pumpkin soup with rice and milk (one of her “Madri’s” many “magical” dishes). Revisiting her recovery from bulimia, she shares the creamy butternut squash bucatini recipe that saw her through it, while breaded meatballs evoke memories of her father’s childhood in Puglia. Other tempting dishes include Orecchiette with broccoli rabe; smoked paprika kale chips that Tench’s daughter, Catherine, eats by the bunches; and a grilled zucchini parmigiana that pays homage to her mother’s fondness for the versatile veggie. This sincere and delicious chronicle is one to savor.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Alice Carbone Tench knows that cooking is a spiritual practice: we seek, we bond, and we heal by preparing meals with our hands. Spending time with Eating Again feels like hanging out in the kitchen with a cool, trustworthy confidante, sharing recipes and memories and maybe a few tears. Alice holds nothing back, and she’ll make you want to cook (and live) the same way.”

—Jeff Gordinier, author of Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World

“There is nothing in the world I love more than a cookbook that tells a personal story, and Alice Carbone Tench has written a beautiful book. Her bright, genuine tone and vibrant takes on Italian food will transport you. While one can experience her joy-filled Instagram videos, the book tells the deeper story. The connection to her history and to her family— both from Piemonte and Apulia, and the story of her deep relationship to her grandmother—really inform this collection. What a great book of easy to execute (and coincidentally) vegetarian recipes!”

—Michelin-Starred chef Patti Jackson

“Through Alice’s writing and her recipes, you can feel her struggles with unhealthy eating patterns, her love for her grandma, even the warmth of sunshine in Tuscany. This is more than a cookbook; it’s a creamy frittata for your heart and soul.”

—Julie Cohen, director of Julia, the new documentary on Julia Child, and RBG

“Eating Again is a cookbook that’s focused on whole-person health and infused with the flavors of Italy. Her recipes are the highlight of the book, but they wouldn’t be the same without the personal stories interspersed between sections. As the recipes invite people to Tench’s table, the stories open up her life and heart. They surround ideas of home and body image and venture from childhood to motherhood with grace, honesty, and compassion.”

—Melissa Wuske, Foreword Reviews