Andrew Carmellini isn’t just one of the best chefs working in New York City — he’s also the husband of my oldest friend in the world. Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of seeing him go from being that guy Gwen fell for over the course of a cross-Canada road trip to being acclaimed as well, one of the best chefs working in New York City. Seriously, just try to argue that after eating his duck meatballs.

Anyway, Andrew and Gwen have spent most of the last two years putting together a cookbook based on Andrew’s exquisite, instinctive recipes — and Kate and I got to help, sitting in their kitchen over several weekends last summer and helping them evaluate the quality of various appetizers. And by “evaluate” I mean “gobble ferociously and make the ‘more’ face until the next set of plates arrives”.

Like I’ve always said, helping people is its own reward.

“Urban Italian” is out now, and Andrew and Gwen kicked off the promotional tour last night in New York, at the Borders in Time Warner Center; unfortunately, we weren’t able to join them, but we’ll catch up to them at some point. The schedule is up at Andrew’s site. Should you find yourself in proximity to any of their appearances, rebook your day so you can attend; they’re good people, the book is terrific, and they’ll appreciate the attention. Also, there might be snacks.

Oh, and buy the book! In Toronto, it’s available at Good Egg and Pages, and here’s the Amazon.ca link; here’s the Amazon.com URL for US readers.

I believe the Internet term you’re looking for is “nom nom nom”.