About this Event
Moderating this discussion is writer and cook Colu Henry. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.
Can’t make the event?
ACCESSIBILITY:
Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator.
ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by Oct. 21 to request.
Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.
For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected]
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Before she understood herself, Tarajia Morrell understood flavor.
Born to one of New York’s most celebrated wine families, Tarajia Morrell grew up at the table, where conversation was wine-soaked and food was the love language—a merchant’s daughter amid the Manhattan elite.
In this lush, lyrical memoir, the James Beard Award-winning writer traces a life shaped by hunger—for beauty, for love, for pleasure, and for belonging. From the electric excess of the late-’90s New York City club scene to Hollywood tables where she served celebrities, Tarajia moved through the world restless but hopeful, unsure of what would come next.
Wherever she found herself, the pleasures of food guided her. The brine and brightness of ceviche on a Uruguayan beach. The intoxicating sprawl of Barcelona’s food markets. A perfectly ripe plum eaten over the sink by her graceful mother. Through deep heartbreak and loss, it was food that kept Tarajia tethered and whispered of who she was.
Desire Feeds the Feast is a boldly written memoir about the ache of lost loves, the comfort of a perfect bite, and the hard-won victory of finding home where least expected.
Tarajia Morrell is a native New Yorker who grew up at the table. Her food and wine reporting and essays have appeared in WSJ. Magazine, T Magazine, Food & Wine, Departures, and Cherry Bombe, among other publications. Morrell is the co-author of James Beard Award-winner Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More, with Fatima Ali, and author of Soul of New York: A Guide to 30 Exceptional Experiences. She lives in Manhattan with her daughter.
Colu Henry is a writer and cook whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Food & Wine, and House & Garden UK. With more than 20 years in food and wine, she has a knack for creating elegant and approachable recipes. She is the author of Back Pocket Pasta (2017) and Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food (2022), both named best books of the year by NPR, and, most recently, Better at Home (2026). She also writes the weekly newsletter Colu Cooks on Substack. She divides her time between Hudson, NY, and Nova Scotia, where she and her husband are restoring an 1866 farmhouse with their dog, Sugo.
Event venue & nearby stays
Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway, New York, United States
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