Read the first six chapters now at
http://jeffersonstable.typepad.com/the_hill_barons_kitchen/
"THE HILL BARONS' KITCHEN". Set in 1920s Montecito the book is a banquet of visuals describing the people, fashion, food, art, and architecture as it brings our local history alive.
It is the story of Paco who delivered from Diehls, considered in those days the finest gourmet market in the West. He supplied an array of eccentric Chefs in the kitchens of all Montecito's magnificent estates built by super wealthy Americans called “The Hill Barons”
The locations are the grand estates like Arcady, El Mirador, Il Brolino, Il Feuridis, Val Verde, Cima del Mundo and many more. Readers are entertained by the steady stream of notables, from Charles Lindbergh and Charlie Chaplin to sexy starlets of the silver screen who flooded the social scene with excitement and scandal.
The book tells tales of passionate Chefs as they compete in the Medallion d’Oro, crowning the greatest cuisinier in America. Readers experience the opening of the Biltmore and the notorious gambling ship that took the town by storm serving alcohol during prohibition. It is a fantasy for foodies...
“The Hill Barons’ Kitchen” is a banquet of visual imagery
referencing spectacular art, architecture and design. The book reveals
extraordinary tales of passionate Chefs as they compete in the Medallion d’Oro,
crowning the greatest cuisinier in America.
High spirited, intelligent and spicy, this is the delicious
story of Pacomino Oakley always called Paco. Leading
an unbridled lifestyle among the rich and famous, he stumbled into a
plot that exposed his true identity, all while uncovering his artistic talents
and following a path to solve the puzzle of his mysterious first love.
Born into a family of noted stonemasons and artisans
imported from Italy for their remarkable skills, he grew up watching the
creation of multi-million dollar estates, sitting like castles on the verdant
soft summits of Santa Barbara and Montecito, California in the 1920's.
The boy had an inauspicious birth secreted away in the
beginning since his rolling stone of a father evaporated upon knowledge of his
coming. Paco was the only thing that
made his Mother’s beautiful mahogany-colored eyes sparkle with joy. She sang to him in Italian, fed him tenderly
from her large perfect breasts and made him darling baby dresses of vintage
lace with satin bows. She taught him to
dance and to paint on a big white china platter in strawberry jam with his tiny
fingers.
Given all this loving attention Paco’s eyes sparkled too,
just like hers, with an adorable little crinkle at the outside corners that
gave the impression he was always smiling.
His soft brown curls matched his eyes and sprang out in ringlets that
his Mother made perfect by wrapping strands around her fingers.
The boy grew to a man, still painting, only now with fine
sable brushes, with the same crinkly laughing eyes but the curls were carefully
oiled to lay stark and flat with a part down the center according to the
current fashion. He moved with a graceful agile gait, athletic and suntanned, a
bearing unique to California. While he
worked he wore a handsome uniform of dark blue lightweight serge with small brass
buttons and epaulets. Paco’s trousers
were slim tan jodhpurs and he was finished with a pair of dutifully polished
sable knee high boots. He put on a fresh
white shirt each day and an Eaton tie peeked out of his collar.
A breed of super wealthy Americans, called “The Hill
Barons”, were Paco’s patrons, the ones, Diehls, the foremost gourmet market in
the region, handled with kid gloves. Earnestly searching the globe for
their requests, Paco supplied the fabulous kitchens where all was converted to
luxurious dining, extravagant parties and exquisite events.
At 6:00am each morning Paco always stocked a fine highly
polished black truck displaying the famous Diehls trademark in gold script on the
side. The world's best fresh food and culinary delicacies were fulfilled,
following the orders of a wild, eccentric and often hilarious assortment of
Chefs and cooks.
Follow the fireworks aboard an infamous gambling ship and
experience the opening of Santa Barbara's prized Biltmore Hotel. Be
entertained by the steady stream of notables, from Lindbergh and Chaplin to
sexy starlets of the silver screen who flood the Santa Barbara social scene
with excitement, celebrity and scandal.
An ardent lover of the richness and artistry before him,
Paco dreams of studying in the Academy del Arte of Florence as he sees his
complex world explode with intrigue, sensual pleasures and tangled
relationships. Come and explore the “Roaring Twenties” with Paco, tasting the
best of everything, and experiencing this fascinating era through his artist’s
eyes.
Purchase in print or all digetal formats at the website:
http://jeffersonstable.typepad.com/the_hill_barons_kitchen/
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