Sokolov says that Columbus greatly influenced our eating habits when such New World delights as tomatoes, chocolate, green beans, chili peppers, and maize were introduced into cuisine throughout the world and when the delicacies of the Old World found their way into the cooking pots of America. Sokolov is the Leisure & Arts Editor of The Wall Street Journal.

Part autobiography, part culinary history, "Steal the Menu" is former "New York Times" food editor Raymond Sokolov s account of four decades of eating. From his pathbreaking dispatches on nouvelle cuisine in France to finding top-notch Chinese dishes at a New Jersey gas station to picking the brain of the most Michelin-starred chef in the world, Sokolov captures the colorful characters and mouth watering meals that define food today. Throughout, he shares a lifetime of personal anecdotes, including infuriating President Nixon s daughter over a wedding cake, as well as prescient observations...