Description
Rose Previte introduces readers to the eclectic cultures of the region spanning North Africa, the Caucuses, and the Middle East through food, offering a nuanced, informed, and yet entirely warm and personal way in. Before opening her beloved Washington, DC, restaurants Maydān and Compass Rose, Previte traveled old spice trade routes to learn from home cooks, and it became apparent how adjacent cooking traditions informed and folded back on one another, creating a constant dialogue. Ancient foodways don’t recognize geopolitical boundaries. For instance, the harissa found in Tunisia is incredibly similar to the adjika used in Georgia, and the lineage of baking bread in clay ovens stretches across the region with strikingly parallel methods. And in that vein, the word maydān––pronounced “MY-dahn,” “MAY-dahn,” or “MI-dan”––has roots in a number of languages and has been crossing borders for generations, from Tangier to Tehran and from Beirut to Batumi. It means “gathering place” or “square,” and originates in Arabic, but translates to Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Ukrainian, and even Latin. To Previte, it symbolizes how food brings us together and everyone can add a personal twist.
Rose Previte is the owner of several of Washington, DC’s acclaimed restaurants: the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award finalist Maydān, Compass Rose, Kirby Club, and Medina. Maydān quickly earned coveted spots on many national Best New Restaurants in America lists, including at Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, GQ, and Eater; was named a James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2018; and earned a Michelin star in 2019. She is also the cofounder of Go There Wines, a social-impact wine company. Raised in a food-loving Sicilian-Lebanese family in Ohio, Rose started working in food in her mother’s restaurant and Lebanese catering business. Her first restaurant, Compass Rose, was inspired by spending nearly three years traveling to more than thirty countries, all while she lived in Russia with her husband, David Greene, posted there as the correspondent for NPR. She lives a bicoastal life between Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Marah Stets is a bestselling cookbook writer and editor. Her culinary career began in France, where she helped run culinary courses, organized countryside excursions, and provided French-to-English translation at La Varenne, Anne Willan’s acclaimed cooking school. In the mid-1990s, she moved to New York to work on the 1997 edition of the Joy of Cooking. She has coauthored New York Times bestsellers, Washington Post “Best Cookbook of the Year” selections, and James Beard and IACP cookbook award finalists and winners. Stets lives in Washington, DC.
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