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Cheesecake
From New York Times-bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a delectable novel following an ancient recipe for cheesecake as it spreads through the Upper West side-from the restaurant of a conniving landlord to the kitchens of the old-school New Yorkers he's trying to force out-and to the parties, feasts, and apartments they're not willing to give up that easily.
The Katsikases have found a home in New York. A Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated in hopes of opening a restaurant, they've found the perfect storefront on the up-and-coming Upper West Side. They decide to call it The Katz Brothers. (Close enough, they think.) The diner becomes a neighborhood favorite-until Art Katsikas begins buying up all the real estate he can, forcing out their old “regulars” and scheming to replace the neighborhood's strudel shops and artists with ritzy boutiques and the nouveau riche.
Meanwhile, at The Katz Brothers, the Katsikases rush to prepare for this new clientele by introducing a new “modern classical cuisine,” changing the diner's name to “Mykonos,” and deciding to serve “Cato's Cheesecake,” an ancient Roman recipe known to be the oldest ever found. Sure enough, the enigmatic recipe is a hit, even minted by the New York Times restaurant critic. Soon the cheesecake is all over the Upper West Side, and wild interpretations of Cato's vision appear at the parties, feasts, and bakeries of old New Yorkers struggling to keep their withering community alive. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage and spite, the cheesecake becomes a herald of change as the Upper West Side-and New York's food scene-are transformed for good.
The Katsikases have found a home in New York. A Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated in hopes of opening a restaurant, they've found the perfect storefront on the up-and-coming Upper West Side. They decide to call it The Katz Brothers. (Close enough, they think.) The diner becomes a neighborhood favorite-until Art Katsikas begins buying up all the real estate he can, forcing out their old “regulars” and scheming to replace the neighborhood's strudel shops and artists with ritzy boutiques and the nouveau riche.
Meanwhile, at The Katz Brothers, the Katsikases rush to prepare for this new clientele by introducing a new “modern classical cuisine,” changing the diner's name to “Mykonos,” and deciding to serve “Cato's Cheesecake,” an ancient Roman recipe known to be the oldest ever found. Sure enough, the enigmatic recipe is a hit, even minted by the New York Times restaurant critic. Soon the cheesecake is all over the Upper West Side, and wild interpretations of Cato's vision appear at the parties, feasts, and bakeries of old New Yorkers struggling to keep their withering community alive. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage and spite, the cheesecake becomes a herald of change as the Upper West Side-and New York's food scene-are transformed for good.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2025
65 people are currently reading
5179 people want to read
About the author
Mark Kurlansky
68 books1,980 followersMark Kurlansky is an American journalist and author who has written a number of books of fiction and nonfiction. His 1997 book, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997), was an international bestseller and was translated into more than fifteen languages. His book Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea (2006) was the nonfiction winner of the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
August 11, 2025
I am a big fan of Mark Kurlansky’s nonfiction works and was excited to read a fictional story about cheesecake. However, I was disappointed in this book as it just felt kinda random. The story depicts a cheesecake recipe and New York neighborhood that gradually changes overtime. The end of the book does include a bit of actual history about cheesecake, which I found interesting. But I think I had too high of expectations to enjoy this one.
September 8, 2025
3.5 stars
Interestingly enough, this book (a rare foray into fiction by the award-winning author) is both about and not about cheesecake. It is more social commentary, about the changing nature of NYC neighborhoods, apartments and landlords, gentrification, and art.
Art Katsikas, along with his brother Niki and sister-in-law Adara, were part of a cheese making family in Greece. The three decide to move to NYC in the 1970s and open a diner (a business sure to succeed, they are told by friends). They open Katz Brothers on the Upper West Side, and it becomes a popular spot for the neighborhood.
But while Niki and Adara are happy with their humble (yet successful) diner, Art has larger ambitions. He sees the changes coming to the neighborhood as landlords raise rents to drive their tenants out, and he wants a part of this. So he convinces Niki and Adara that the diner should be changed into a fancy restaurant, Mykonos, which will serve “modern classical cuisine.”
The centerpiece of the menu is cheesecake, but an adaptation of the earliest-known recipe by Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE. This cheesecake is very different, both sweet and savory, and its introduction at Mykonos is met with fantastic reviews. Of course, imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, so it’s not long before everyone is trying to replicate Cato’s cheesecake—in very different ways.
While the restaurant and cheesecake are core to the story, much of the book focuses on various neighborhood residents and their encounter with Cato’s cheesecake, as well as what variation they become involved with. At the same time, it follows Art’s transformation into a ruthless landlord and how the neighborhood where Mykonos is changed through the years.
Mark Kurlansky is an excellent writer, and the book is tremendously informative about cheesecake’s history, variations, etc. I felt like the book was a little overstuffed with characters and subplots that didn’t quite come to fruition, when the story of the Katsikases would have been enough.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/getbookedwithlarry/.
Interestingly enough, this book (a rare foray into fiction by the award-winning author) is both about and not about cheesecake. It is more social commentary, about the changing nature of NYC neighborhoods, apartments and landlords, gentrification, and art.
Art Katsikas, along with his brother Niki and sister-in-law Adara, were part of a cheese making family in Greece. The three decide to move to NYC in the 1970s and open a diner (a business sure to succeed, they are told by friends). They open Katz Brothers on the Upper West Side, and it becomes a popular spot for the neighborhood.
But while Niki and Adara are happy with their humble (yet successful) diner, Art has larger ambitions. He sees the changes coming to the neighborhood as landlords raise rents to drive their tenants out, and he wants a part of this. So he convinces Niki and Adara that the diner should be changed into a fancy restaurant, Mykonos, which will serve “modern classical cuisine.”
The centerpiece of the menu is cheesecake, but an adaptation of the earliest-known recipe by Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE. This cheesecake is very different, both sweet and savory, and its introduction at Mykonos is met with fantastic reviews. Of course, imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, so it’s not long before everyone is trying to replicate Cato’s cheesecake—in very different ways.
While the restaurant and cheesecake are core to the story, much of the book focuses on various neighborhood residents and their encounter with Cato’s cheesecake, as well as what variation they become involved with. At the same time, it follows Art’s transformation into a ruthless landlord and how the neighborhood where Mykonos is changed through the years.
Mark Kurlansky is an excellent writer, and the book is tremendously informative about cheesecake’s history, variations, etc. I felt like the book was a little overstuffed with characters and subplots that didn’t quite come to fruition, when the story of the Katsikases would have been enough.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/getbookedwithlarry/.
June 27, 2025
There’s a new cheesecake in town, if that can be said for one based on one of the world’s oldest written recipes.
I've read a few of Mark Kurlansky's history books, and his skill at creating a strong narrative made me think a novel would be delightful. I was right. What I love in his writing is how densely he packs facts, yet weaves it together in such a compelling way that it's still smooth reading. He is also quite skilled at a dry style of humor that I love, and this definitely translates well to novel form.
In this novel, a long-winded cheesecake recipe with rather ambiguous instructions from Ancient Rome becomes a fad in a neighborhood in Upper West Side Manhattan, and this serves as a device to present a character study of the neighborhood - both the old-timer, predominantly Jewish portion that is largely being driven out by sky-rocketing rent prices, and newcomers with ambition, ideas, and plenty of money. After one enterprising restaurateur decides the ancient cheesecake will give his restaurant just the right world-class veneer that he requires, several in the neighborhood decide to create their own version. As we experience the evolution of the cheesecake, we meet a broad cast of intriguing characters. It starts Adara, the Greek sister-in-law to the above-mentioned restaurateur, who is tasked with interpreting this recipe and making something people would actually want to eat. As she struggles:
We meet a beautiful model and her artist husband, who need a flashy centerpiece to their swanky party; a media mogul named Putz, whose daughter must have the best bat mitzvah; Mimi, an art collector losing her apartment to rent hikes who likewise throws a party; homeless Lazarus, who finds the discarded remnants from one of these parties; Ruth, who attends all of these parties, feeds all the neighborhood dogs, and abstains from the favorite foods of departed loved ones, which, ironically, means she is on a self-imposed prohibition against cheesecake.
Each iteration of the cheesecake recipe fits well with the characters that create it - and each version is authentic, of course, though the more astute characters have their doubts about the one covered in chocolate and green candies.
Among the antics of the denizens of this neighborhood, a reader is reminded of its author by many witty and astute observations from characters. For example, as she is lamenting the rent hikes that will drive her out of her beloved neighborhood, Mimi quips:
"That markets would be fair is the foundational lie of capitalism." (p. 71)
This quoted from a silly novel about cheesecake. Gosh I love Mark Kurlansky.
I've read a few of Mark Kurlansky's history books, and his skill at creating a strong narrative made me think a novel would be delightful. I was right. What I love in his writing is how densely he packs facts, yet weaves it together in such a compelling way that it's still smooth reading. He is also quite skilled at a dry style of humor that I love, and this definitely translates well to novel form.
In this novel, a long-winded cheesecake recipe with rather ambiguous instructions from Ancient Rome becomes a fad in a neighborhood in Upper West Side Manhattan, and this serves as a device to present a character study of the neighborhood - both the old-timer, predominantly Jewish portion that is largely being driven out by sky-rocketing rent prices, and newcomers with ambition, ideas, and plenty of money. After one enterprising restaurateur decides the ancient cheesecake will give his restaurant just the right world-class veneer that he requires, several in the neighborhood decide to create their own version. As we experience the evolution of the cheesecake, we meet a broad cast of intriguing characters. It starts Adara, the Greek sister-in-law to the above-mentioned restaurateur, who is tasked with interpreting this recipe and making something people would actually want to eat. As she struggles:
“Metrokoites!” muttered Adara as she stared at the infuriating recipe. It was not a word she used often, never publicly, because it was disrespectful to mothers. But after studying Cato's recipe a little longer, she added a worse word that is disrespectful to goats. (p. 57-58)
We meet a beautiful model and her artist husband, who need a flashy centerpiece to their swanky party; a media mogul named Putz, whose daughter must have the best bat mitzvah; Mimi, an art collector losing her apartment to rent hikes who likewise throws a party; homeless Lazarus, who finds the discarded remnants from one of these parties; Ruth, who attends all of these parties, feeds all the neighborhood dogs, and abstains from the favorite foods of departed loved ones, which, ironically, means she is on a self-imposed prohibition against cheesecake.
Each iteration of the cheesecake recipe fits well with the characters that create it - and each version is authentic, of course, though the more astute characters have their doubts about the one covered in chocolate and green candies.
Among the antics of the denizens of this neighborhood, a reader is reminded of its author by many witty and astute observations from characters. For example, as she is lamenting the rent hikes that will drive her out of her beloved neighborhood, Mimi quips:
"That markets would be fair is the foundational lie of capitalism." (p. 71)
This quoted from a silly novel about cheesecake. Gosh I love Mark Kurlansky.
September 3, 2025
2-1/2 stars rounded up to a 3. Mark Kurlansky should stick to nonfiction which he does extremely well, e.g., Salt: A World History, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, The Basque History of the World, and many more. Cheesecake: A Novel comprises a large number of characters, many not very interesting, inhabiting loosely connected stories. What unifies the stories more than cheesecake is the continuing dismantling of rent controls in Manhattan during the 1980s and '90s which caused business closures and displacement of tenants to other boroughs. There is a good amount of information about the very old history of cheesecake which I think would have been better served in a nonfiction vehicle. The best part of the book for me was the Appendix with its variety of cheesecake recipes.
August 29, 2025
Mark Kurlansky’s *Cheesecake* is a flavorful exploration of gentrification, culinary reinvention, and community identity set in 1970s Manhattan. The story centers on the Katsikas family, Greek immigrants who transform their modest diner into the upscale "Mykonos," featuring an ancient Roman cheesecake recipe attributed to Cato the Elder. This enigmatic dish—savory, flour-based, and far from the sweet New York classic—becomes a symbol of cultural and economic upheaval. As the cheesecake craze sweeps the Upper West Side, longtime residents and newcomers alike reinterpret the recipe, reflecting their struggles and aspirations. Kurlansky’s novel weaves a tapestry of quirky characters and social commentary, offering a rich, if occasionally uneven, narrative that captures the complexities of urban transformation. While the novel's appeal may resonate most with New Yorkers, its themes of change and resilience are universally relatable.
November 1, 2025
As an audiobook, 2 stars.
As an ebook, 3 stars.
The audiobook narration was really bad, tonally off and leaving me wildly disinterested. Switching to the ebook (which I did because chapter 7 in the audiobook was straight up missing), it was far more charming.
I enjoyed the book in the context of my own life and experiences, in the conversations about rent freezes amongst the Mamdani campaign, in the intertwining of the uniquely-NYC-Jewish and -Greek cultures and foods and attitudes that echo in the family of my partner and the stories of my grandparents, in my own experiences in the city and in Hoboken and the understanding of what it means to live on which side of the Hudson, how you can get people into the city but it’s a very different ask for people to leave.
I liked the prose. I wasn’t thrilled with the length. It was nice to read something so firmly rooted in a place that is held in such a unique, immovable position in my heart.
As an ebook, 3 stars.
The audiobook narration was really bad, tonally off and leaving me wildly disinterested. Switching to the ebook (which I did because chapter 7 in the audiobook was straight up missing), it was far more charming.
I enjoyed the book in the context of my own life and experiences, in the conversations about rent freezes amongst the Mamdani campaign, in the intertwining of the uniquely-NYC-Jewish and -Greek cultures and foods and attitudes that echo in the family of my partner and the stories of my grandparents, in my own experiences in the city and in Hoboken and the understanding of what it means to live on which side of the Hudson, how you can get people into the city but it’s a very different ask for people to leave.
I liked the prose. I wasn’t thrilled with the length. It was nice to read something so firmly rooted in a place that is held in such a unique, immovable position in my heart.
August 1, 2025
While Kurlansky is a great writer of nonfiction, and I was really looking forward to this book after hearing him on NPR, we were sorely disappointed. We listened to the audiobook (the narrator is so bad, we thought it was AI), and somewhere in the third chapter I legitimately picked up my phone to check whether it had accidentally skipped into a different book because I saw absolutely no correlation between the chapters. Am I supposed to accept that this is an intertwined narrative because at the end the cheesecake is briefly mentioned? Seemed like an extremely weak attempt at that type of narrative structure.
This really seems like a tenuously connected series of partial novel ideas none of which would have been interesting enough to publish on their own and all of which are not interesting together either. The result is little more than some character sketches of people who are not very interesting.
This really seems like a tenuously connected series of partial novel ideas none of which would have been interesting enough to publish on their own and all of which are not interesting together either. The result is little more than some character sketches of people who are not very interesting.
September 21, 2025
Although I didn't love this, I probably am not the target audience. It's a cleverly interwoven story about a neighborhood in NYC, the oldest written recipe, and various interesting characters. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I knew more about or had lived in NYC or if I liked to cook more. Lots of recipes in the appendix for different types of cheesecake from around the world.
November 9, 2025
Fun read on an imagined cheese cake competition. Takes place in NYC on west 86th street in the ‘80, meet different characters & get into the nitty gritty of their lives. Personally, for me it brings back my memories of that area at that time. Well written. Thoroughly enjoyed.
November 17, 2025
This was an NPR rec and usually those don’t miss, but this one did. These type of books (many characters and pov’s in one location) do nothing for me. I wanted more cheesecake, not the backstory of the people eating it.
August 29, 2025
This book just flits around between all different characters. Enjoyed the appendix much more than the story.
November 12, 2025
I didn’t really understand this book. It was just a rambling story of characters that all lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan & didn’t really have anything to do with cheesecake (except for the appendix, which detailed different recipes & iterations of cheesecake-which is actually what I thought the book would be). Very random. More about rent control in NYC than anything else.
August 15, 2025
Sweet to the taste and satisfying, this novel is about immigrants finding their niche in New York City. They use an ancient recipe for Cheesecake, and their influence spreads.
August 18, 2025
Kurlansky’s fictional account of the 1980s shift in economic and real estate status on NYC’s Upper West Side provides an engrossing cast of CHs from Greek diner owners (who live in Queens with their goats) to socialites and artists and the homeless who populate the area specific to one rent-controlled apartment building. No one is the main CH unless you consider this area and time period of NYC the main attraction. The plot revolves around cheesecake—the history, creation, and competition to make the most memorable one and the changing real estate market as rent control laws change and neighborhoods shift economically and socially. Everyday details of NYC living pop, as does the mouth-watering food and bakery descriptions, and Kurlansky’s overview of artists—painters, sculptors, musicians, party-planners, and their muses. The details provide Tonal changes but humor prevails even as the reader feels anxiety for the denizens of the W. 86th Street and the changes they encounter. Kurlansky uses racoons, rats, the unhoused, hawks, dogs, gardens, chefs and bakers well as plot movers, also enlightening us about CHs and Setting. Human nature gets quite a close up in this engaging and entertaining and educational novel. The Preface is an overview of the Roman Cato the Elder’s cheesecake recipe from 234 BCE and the Appendix gives an overview of the history of cheesecake from ancient to modern times with recipes. Kurlansky can’t help himself—he must inform us about his latest obsession in crisp and detailed prose. RED FLAGS: Unhoused; Minor Violence. Readers who like an ensemble cast, NYC history and CHs, and food history may enjoy this slim book. Readalikes may be Elinor Lipman’s Ms. Demeanor for the ensemble cast & NYC apartment Setting plus humor, Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street for similar reasons (but meaner CHs), and Ruth Reichl’s The Paris Novel. If historicals that teach you something is your thing, I also think David Liss’s novel The Coffee Trader may be a good possibility about the coffee industry in the 17th C. Netherlands.
July 20, 2025
Personal copy
I enjoyed Kurlansky's YA BATTLE FATIGUE as well as his FROZEN IN TIME and THE STORY OF SALT. When I saw that he had written a fun, fictional book for adults, I had to take a look.
This started out with a lot of information about ancient Greece and Rome, which made my Classics major heart happy. The cheesecake is given a lot of discussion, about different origins, kinds, and the variety of bakeries and restaurants that produce it. It figures largely in different sections of the plot.
This is a very character heavy novel; there's not a lot of plot, other than the characters investigating the best recipe for cheesecake. Because I am more used to middle grade books, there were several times when I wondered just why we were getting SO much information about characters' backstories, but the characters are really the main focus of the book. Since it is a book for adults, there are a few mentions of sex, but not as much as many books out there.
I was a tiny bit disappointed, because I thought this would be funnier than it was, and that there would be more information about the one Greek owned restaurant-- I think I just had a different book imagined in my mind. I enjoyed this, and plan on giving the copy to a friend for her birthday.
It's perfectly acceptable to buy books for gifts and read them before giving them, right? How else do I know if my friend might like the book? It's so hard to find realistic, funny books for adults.
I enjoyed Kurlansky's YA BATTLE FATIGUE as well as his FROZEN IN TIME and THE STORY OF SALT. When I saw that he had written a fun, fictional book for adults, I had to take a look.
This started out with a lot of information about ancient Greece and Rome, which made my Classics major heart happy. The cheesecake is given a lot of discussion, about different origins, kinds, and the variety of bakeries and restaurants that produce it. It figures largely in different sections of the plot.
This is a very character heavy novel; there's not a lot of plot, other than the characters investigating the best recipe for cheesecake. Because I am more used to middle grade books, there were several times when I wondered just why we were getting SO much information about characters' backstories, but the characters are really the main focus of the book. Since it is a book for adults, there are a few mentions of sex, but not as much as many books out there.
I was a tiny bit disappointed, because I thought this would be funnier than it was, and that there would be more information about the one Greek owned restaurant-- I think I just had a different book imagined in my mind. I enjoyed this, and plan on giving the copy to a friend for her birthday.
It's perfectly acceptable to buy books for gifts and read them before giving them, right? How else do I know if my friend might like the book? It's so hard to find realistic, funny books for adults.
July 11, 2025
I love cheesecake! When we were last in NYC, one of our best outings was to Katz's for Reubens and a piece of New York Cheesecake. Delightful!
This looks like the perfect book match for me. Unfortunately I was a both underwhelmed and overwhelmed. I'll get to that later.
Here are the things I liked:
🏙The book is set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We discovered a cookie bakery in that area years ago and visited it multiple times during our stay.
🍰Cheesecake is the star of the show. There are many recipes included in an Appendix from all around the world.
😎There were some quirky characters like Violette the artist's model and Art, the restaurant owner turned real estate mogul, and Adara his beautiful sister-in-law, and her handsome husband Niki to name a few.
Why underwhelmed? There were lots of characters for so little prose. Why overwhelmed? So much cheesecake information packed in -- mostly in the Appendix. So, I think this author just isn't for me. I did learn some new things about Cato's cheesecake, but would rather eat the more modern renditions than the original savory one.
Thank you to Bloomsbury and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
This looks like the perfect book match for me. Unfortunately I was a both underwhelmed and overwhelmed. I'll get to that later.
Here are the things I liked:
🏙The book is set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We discovered a cookie bakery in that area years ago and visited it multiple times during our stay.
🍰Cheesecake is the star of the show. There are many recipes included in an Appendix from all around the world.
😎There were some quirky characters like Violette the artist's model and Art, the restaurant owner turned real estate mogul, and Adara his beautiful sister-in-law, and her handsome husband Niki to name a few.
Why underwhelmed? There were lots of characters for so little prose. Why overwhelmed? So much cheesecake information packed in -- mostly in the Appendix. So, I think this author just isn't for me. I did learn some new things about Cato's cheesecake, but would rather eat the more modern renditions than the original savory one.
Thank you to Bloomsbury and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
February 25, 2025
In a word .. delicious. Or scrumptious.
I've loved cheesecake since I was in high school. yum.
Cheesecake: A Novel is a story that goes round and round, but cheesecake is definitely the re-occurring theme. Very, very enjoyable read.
Lots of recipes. I really wanted to call New York and order a cheesecake as I was reading. Would love to figure out how to order one from Herb Grosinger, that sounds like the perfect option. Looks like he also wrote a book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA publishing for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky in exchange for an honest review. Approx 208 pages, publication date is July 15, 2025.
I've loved cheesecake since I was in high school. yum.
Cheesecake: A Novel is a story that goes round and round, but cheesecake is definitely the re-occurring theme. Very, very enjoyable read.
Lots of recipes. I really wanted to call New York and order a cheesecake as I was reading. Would love to figure out how to order one from Herb Grosinger, that sounds like the perfect option. Looks like he also wrote a book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA publishing for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky in exchange for an honest review. Approx 208 pages, publication date is July 15, 2025.
July 15, 2025
This story is, somewhat, a huge cheesecake recipe.
We follow The Katskases, a Greek cheese making family who move to new york with plans/dreams of opening a restaurant. This story, unfortunately, really lost me from that point onward. We are introduced to a plethora of characters, with little development, all laced with a new cheesecake recipe they had ripped off from the Katskases.
It felt as though it could have been quirky, cute & quite wholesome, but was just weighed down by too many characters & too much information on different dairy cheeses used in cheesecake.
That being said, i do think if you're a big foodie, who loves learning backstories & putting food to personality, i think you could enjoy this.
We follow The Katskases, a Greek cheese making family who move to new york with plans/dreams of opening a restaurant. This story, unfortunately, really lost me from that point onward. We are introduced to a plethora of characters, with little development, all laced with a new cheesecake recipe they had ripped off from the Katskases.
It felt as though it could have been quirky, cute & quite wholesome, but was just weighed down by too many characters & too much information on different dairy cheeses used in cheesecake.
That being said, i do think if you're a big foodie, who loves learning backstories & putting food to personality, i think you could enjoy this.
July 31, 2025
Fine, but not what I was expecting (a history of cheesecake, similar to Kurlansky's SALT). Instead, this is a fictional (I think?!?) account of a New York neighborhood and the characters within. And how a few of those characters attempt to make Cato the Elder's cheesecake recipe, which is more than 2000 years old. And very much not a 'modern' recipe. The characters are an interesting mix, but none of whom I'd empathize with, or want to be friends with, really. Lots of conversations about rent control as well. The only section of the book that discusses cheesecake, its history, and recipes is the appendix. If you are looking for cheesecake info, skip the novel and just read the appendix.
August 10, 2025
As someone who grew up in New Yorking, eating cheesecake in Greek diners, oh how I wanted to like this book. It had the potential to be a nice, fun read, but in the end, I sadly had to rate it 1 star.
The overall premise of the book was fun and interesting, but none of the characters were more than cartoons, the plot was not overly compelling, and while I hoped to be rewarded with an interesting plot turn, there wasn't one to be had.
The book bounced back and forth between different decades, and this might be minor, but the math didn't add up, and the cultural tounpoint references didn't match up.
A noble try, but in the end, the book was a big swing and a miss. Too bad.
The overall premise of the book was fun and interesting, but none of the characters were more than cartoons, the plot was not overly compelling, and while I hoped to be rewarded with an interesting plot turn, there wasn't one to be had.
The book bounced back and forth between different decades, and this might be minor, but the math didn't add up, and the cultural tounpoint references didn't match up.
A noble try, but in the end, the book was a big swing and a miss. Too bad.
August 30, 2025
Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky was read for a "Published in 2025" bingo square. It tells the story of people on 86th Street in New York vying for a good "Cato cheesecake". Supposedly the Roman Cato has the first recorded recipe of cheesecake! There are quite a few interesting characters which I sometimes had a problem keeping straight. What I found most interesting was his appendix where he gave quite a bit of history on the development of cheesecake and the variations of those from different world countries. He even includes recipes of these variations--none of which were the recipe for New York cheesecake that I found a decade or so ago on All Recipes!
November 23, 2025
This read explores themes of gentrification, culinary re-invention, and immigrant community identity. The author uses quirky characters and social commentary to present an uneven narrative of the urban complexities of New York City in the 1970s. Overall though the writing was dry and overly verbose. The writing style used is not one that I enjoy. For me, even though this book is under 200 pages, this was hard to get through. There are a lot of cheesecake recipes included in the back of the book though, so those could be fun for anyone inclined toward baking. This one definitely wasn’t for me though.
September 25, 2025
This is a cynical and satirical story of a Manhattan neighborhood, the destination of an immigrant Greek family in the 1970's. Although it follows this family, the novel also details the lives of many of the inhabitants of the neighborhood through the 80's and on into gentrification. We find many interpretations of Cato's original recipe that is indecipherable as a humorous twist. This was an okay novel, but my sense of satire and humor are a little different than that of the author. I think it's just a matter of my personality not being right for this novel than anything else.
July 8, 2025
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. There were aspects of it that I enjoyed, but overall it wasn’t for me. The characters were interesting, but for a 184 page book there were too many. None of the characters really got the development that makes a book one you don’t want to put down. I put this book down…for days, and only finished it because I wanted to be able to give it an honest review. The concept was clever, but not to the extent that I really cared about how it ended.
August 1, 2025
I really enjoy Kurlansky’s non-fiction writing: all of the obscure details he includes and how dramatically he describes our pursuit of salt, cod, etc. Unfortunately, this historical fiction left me wondering what was history and what was fiction about the earliest cheesecake recipe and the quest to replicate and sell it on the upper west side of NYC. The characters were quirky, yet their stories didn’t quite gel for me. Still moderately enjoyable. Full disclosure: I listened to the audiobook so I wasn’t able to study the recipes at the end of the book. A few sounded delicious though!
October 7, 2025
I misinterpreted the blurb thinking this would be “What We Do in the Shadows”-esk with a really old Roman dude showing up in NYC and making a gross cheesecake popular in the 1980s’ but really it was just a connection of stories about a series of neighbors through cheesecake of all things. Not at all what I expected going in, but ultimately a fine read. Would probably make a great book club read (I imagine making or bringing various cheesecakes?).
June 28, 2025
[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Cheesecake releases July 15, 2025
A character-driven story of a New York community through the lens of gentrification.
Not quite what I had expected to read, but was still enjoyable! I found myself drawn more towards Violette’s falsified age than the actual cheesecake itself.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Cheesecake releases July 15, 2025
A character-driven story of a New York community through the lens of gentrification.
Not quite what I had expected to read, but was still enjoyable! I found myself drawn more towards Violette’s falsified age than the actual cheesecake itself.
August 24, 2025
as a fan of kurlanky's work, this one was a bit of a surprise. I wásnt really expecting a novella. still an easy, breezy read full of chuckles and surprises. lots of facts sprinkled in about cheesecake but I had to wade thru a LOT of characters (including those fearsome racoons) to get to the story..
November 18, 2025
What a mess. This was all over the place. It was supposed to be fiction, but there was no flow and no real story. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Had it been written as the history of cheesecake ( more like the appendix), I would rank this much higher. It simply didn’t work as written, at least not for me.
July 13, 2025
What could have been a quirky, delightful story felt weighed down by too many characters and too much information about cheesecake. I think I'll stick to Kurlansky's nonfiction books. ARC courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.
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