In her follow-up cookbook to Salad for President , cook, writer, and artist Julia Sherman shows us how to apply an artist’s touch to our own home gatherings. Forget the codified markers of good taste― Arty Parties instead reveals that the best gatherings are less about “getting it right” and more about getting your hands dirty, building community, and taking risks in the kitchen and beyond. Artists throw superior parties, and we can learn from their willingness to draw outside the lines, choose character over perfection, and find boundless joy in feeding family and friends. Cook, live, and host like an artist with inspired, easy recipes and playful hands-on experiments in the kitchen. Sherman shows you how to be the architect of your own uniquely memorable bash, whether that means a special breakfast for two, or a “choose your own adventure” meal that’s flexible enough to feed a crowd. Featuring colorful food that is confident in its simplicity, Sherman shares easy-to-follow, healthy recipes that value imaginative flavor combinations over complexity: dishes like an avocado-lemongrass panna cotta, saffron tomato soup, coconut rice cakes with smashed avocado and soy-marinated eggs, and roasted broccolini and blood oranges with a creamy pepita sauce. This book also invites readers into the idiosyncratic gatherings of internationally acclaimed artists, from a chic office party in a Parisian art book publisher's atelier to an underground earth oven pizza party on a secluded hillside in Los Angeles. Woven throughout are Sherman’s own homegrown events that are relatable yet wonderfully experimental in tone. Utterly unique and beautifully designed, Arty Parties is a guide to creating meaningful experiences that nourish both the host and their guests in body, mind, and soul. Filled with inspiring color photographs. “Julia Sherman is a constant source of inspiration. In her cookbook Arty Parties , she brings passion and innovation to cooking and entertaining like no one else I know. This book is a creative platform for human connection.”― Mina Stone , chef at Mina's café at MoMA PS1 and author of Cooking for Artists “Julia Sherman is a grand champion of creative get-togethers. She wants you to be one too and this gem of a book is the spark you need if you tend to talk yourself out of entertaining (we’ve all been there). Arty Parties gets under the hood and shows you how to make the world your dining room, rethink what it means to host, cook great food, and have fun in the process.”― Heidi Swanson , author of Super Natural Simple “ Arty Parties is so utterly original, playful, and practical that if it doesn’t inspire you to throw a party, I don’t know what will. Amid thoughtful recipes highlighting exquisitely sourced ingredients, Julia Sherman profiles a mix of artists’ parties that run the gamut from a chic Parisian office party to a queer performance night in Upstate New York. Everything in the book has the same message: Food is visual art, a performance, and sustenance. The next time you entertain, think outside the box.”― Stephanie Danler , author of Sweetbitter and Stray “Julia Sherman is bursting with delicious ideas: eat a halved furikake-sprinkled avocado, perhaps on the go or over the sink! Soak some sour cherries in vodka for a memorable hostess gift! Toss a head of romaine on the grill and mix it with celery-kumquat salsa to make a mouth-watering salad! Sherman takes us in hand and teaches us not to be too precious in the kitchen: to experiment, make a mess, try something new. This book is a reminder that food is a party, and a really good one at that.”― Naomi Fry , staff writer, The New Yorker Julia Sherman is an artist, photographer, and the creator of the website Salad for President. In addition to her culinary work, Sherman is an exhibiting mixed-media artist. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from Columbia University. Sherman is the author of Salad for President (Abrams, 2017). She lives in Pasadena, California.