Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow is one of our most requested books, and now we get it. In this episode, we chat about the important role that food, cooking and shared tables all play in this charming book.

We meander from how a good meal can be like time travel to thoughts on mixing the perfect aperitif - “A cocktail is not meant to be a melange. It is not a potpourri or an Easter parade. At its best, a cocktail should be crisp, elegant, sincere- and limited to two ingredients” - and the sanity-saving grace of taking a moment to savour life’s little luxuries (such as a warm peach straight from the tree, a coffee and 15 minutes in the sun to read uninterrupted).

Our letter writer for this episode also poses an excellent question - when should you give up on a book or recipe that’s not sparking joy? We have thoughts. We’d love to hear yours too!

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