Extra Sauce: The Good, the Bad, and the Onions

by Zahra Tangorra

A raw and raucous memoir from chef and writer Zahra Tangorra about the great meals and great loves of her life, reflecting on family, friendship, grief, and the solace that can be found through food

Extra sauce is how I like my pizza and also how I fall in love. Extra sauce is for sopping, dunking, and licking off your plate. Licking off your fingers. It is a tiny demand for freedom and hedonism. Life has told you this is the amount of joy you get, and you That is simply not enough.

At twenty-two years old, Zahra Tangorra was trying on adulthood and attempting to find herself when a harrowing near-death experience stopped her in her tracks. It felt like a twisted version of a second chance. Who am I? she asked herself. What do I love? The answers started coming to Stuffed shells and giant meatballs at J&J’s, the Italian red sauce joint of her Long Island childhood. Her mother’s chocolate mousse pie and her father’s sweet and savory pea soup. The people, places, and experiences that made her her, the relationships both loving and fraught—they were all, for better and sometimes worse, inextricably bound up with food.

In this memoir that celebrates both the delicious and the messy in life, Zahra reckons with the adrenaline-filled highs and devastating lows of opening cult-favorite Brooklyn restaurant Brucie and then closing it at the height of its popularity. From cooking her father his last meal and the unexpected yet beautiful things she found at the bottom of her grief to the relationships she couldn’t save through cooking, like her fractured family and the lover she had to leave in Tuscany, Zahra writes about the immense courage it takes to allow ourselves to be loved, extra sauce and all.

Told with uproarious humor and tremendous insight, Extra Sauce is for anyone who yearns to embrace their whole self, who loves with abandon, and who eats with gusto.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Food, Foodie

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 14, 2026

Reviews

[Jackie Sunday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zahra Tangorra buys fresh ingredients and then cooks savory dishes. That’s what she’s known for and one might guess it’s what this book is about. But there’s so much more: her personal thoughts of those close to her heart -- mom, dad, brother, neighbors and many friends.

It took a while to know what she was thinking. It was as though she was sitting with her best friend revealing everything that was on her mind at the moment. It was like an emotional response with ebbs and flows. She unveiled that her life hasn’t been easy with feelings of being lonely and sad.

Yet, what a life! At 24, she moved from NY to France to learn about the rich traditions of pastries. Two years later, she owned a restaurant in NYC which got rave reviews. Sadly, she admitted that there was much more to learn about the business and it closed six years later. But food was in her soul and she started a Brooklyn take-out place a few years later specializing in lasagna. It was so popular that it appeared on an episode of The Martha Stewart Show.

At the end of each chapter, recipes were included: Chicken Francese, Bouillabaisse, potato salad and pea soup along with everyone’s favorites spaghetti and lasagna with mouthwatering marinara sauces. And then there’s the decadent deserts: apple strudel, carrot cake and chocolate mousse pie. I am not someone who cooks regularly but with its clear directions, I could follow the steps. I just wish there were photos.

Everyone knows that fresh food that is wonderfully prepared and presented can be the best part of our day. But so is the experience of love in various forms. Zahra Tangorra wrote about both but she had a lot of disappointments along the way. Her memoir revealed her deepest personal thoughts from her ups and downs. In the Acknowledgments, I was pleased to see that she added a special thanks at the end to her readers – which is rare. It made me smile.

My thanks to The Dial Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of April 14, 2026. The views I share are my own.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

zahra's ethos of 'extra sauce' definitely applies to her writing style- it's big, vivacious, and sometimes a little bit too much- but you can tell she's being very true to herself and damn if I don't want to taste some of her lasagna. brucie sounds like exactly the kind of restaurant I would've loved to roll up to. the way she writes about food and restaurant life is extremely fun, but it actually didn't make up as much as the narrative as i expected. i found her musings on her relationship with her mother unexpectedly moving and that's something that'll linger with me

[SueK · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Zahra Tangorra’s cooking is as lush and evocative as her writing, I hope I get to experience it someday. This memoir feels open, honest, and full of life - almost to the extreme. The chapter on Tangorra’s behavior as the force behind the restaurant Brucie almost felt like a loud public apology to the staff who supported her. She clearly is all inn no matter what she does - love, cook, loss, taste. More than any other chapter, the one that moved me was the love letter to her neighborhood, her community, and the way we can all reach out in small ways and make a big difference. The other thing I appreciate is the inclusion of recipes that are approachable and doable, and the realization that this particular chef can cook the exotic, and indulge in mundane comfort food. This gave a realness to the entire story.

My entire reason for holding to four stars is my feeling that the introvert me, would be a little uncomfortable or overwhelmed with the lushness (and neediness?) of Tangorra, if we ever met in person.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (Dial) for the ARC ebook. Opinions are my own.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really hope people find this book, it deserves so much love!!! For lovers of food and girlies with big feelings.

[Jen R · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. What a life and it's really only just begun.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Zahra Tangorra, the author of the wonderful EXTRA SAUCE, gave a toast at her friend’s wedding, she ended it by simply saying, “I hope you have the best time.” Well, after finishing this memoir with recipes, I can unequivocally say that I, too, “had the best time.” She hooked me right away when talking about “extra sauce.” I immediately related because, like Ms. Tangorra (and her mother), I also like extra sauce or extra dressing on pizza, pasta, salads, you name it. But that’s just part of it. Extra sauce is also, per Ms. Tangorra, “a tiny demand for freedom and hedonism. Life has told you this is the amount of joy you get, and you say: That is simply not enough.” You need that extra sauce to dunk or sop up the sauce and the joys of life!

At 26, Ms. Tangorra opened up her restaurant, Brucie, to rave reviews, even though she had almost no experience working in restaurants, much less running one. The menu changed nightly, and her descriptions of how she and her team created each meal are both mouth-watering and fascinating because of the combinations they chose. Her passion for food comes through so clearly. I felt I had a front seat (but not on one of her extremely uncomfortable bar stools) to the creative process! Nearly everything she created was a success, except for one dish, and the way she describes that fiasco was, for me, laugh-out-loud hilarious. Once again, thanks to her writing, I felt I was there witnessing everything.

However, this book is way more than fabulous food descriptions and recipes. It’s about herself, her journey, love in all its forms, and some of the most important people and relationships who have come into, and gone out of her life: her parents (who were cooks/chefs), lovers, friends, neighbors, employees and collaborators. It’s a story about regrets and growth, sometimes recounted in heartbreaking detail. During this rollercoaster ride, the one through line is food, and how it also was such an important part of these relationships.

The words and stories are delicious, as are the recipes that accompany many of the chapters: marinara sauce, bouillabaisse, her dad’s potato salad, pea soup, and chocolate mousse pie, among others. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and The Dial Press for the opportunity to read the advanced copy. This book is scheduled to be released on April 14, 2026. I have voluntarily provided this review, and all thoughts are my own.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️My review: Zahra is very interesting. She is a risk taker, an adventurer, and a product of a not perfect childhood. She is a chef but never trained professionally. She opened a restaurant in NYC (Brucie) that was a huge hit in the early 2000's. Then she closed it because as we know, the restaurant business is ROUGH. Different chapters of her life are named after dishes and each chapter ends with a huge recipe. (I need to have someone make some of these for me).
Zahra is definitely someone to hang out with, she would entertain everyone and anyone. There were absolute funny and heartbreaking moments and fun pop culture references. The book did drag though. It was very train of thought which at times I enjoyed. Other times it labored on and I got lost.
But Zahra is right. Food is comfort and life and love. ‘Your last meal is not only your favorite food, it is the most important one. What would you eat to feel happy one last time? What edible matter made you feel love in your life? How did it make you love back, and who, and where were you when this all happened? We think of a last meal as being served to those who are tragically on death row. What could you eat in your final moments with a beating heart that could bring you back to the best times, the times before everything became such a mess? Almost everyone has a favorite food no matter how complicated this life has been. Something that transports them to a moment of unencumbered pleasure.’

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advance digital copy. These opinions are my own.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about how Zahra presents herself in this memoir is her overwhelming need to be loved in a 'hey look at me way. 'The product of divorced parents who had trouble finding their own way, Zahra’s needs for love, acceptance, connection, and acknowledgement fuels her. (Who doesn’t want that??? But maybe with a dash of moderation…)

Everything she strives for is flavored with excess whether its expectation from friends, heaping bowls of pasta, or a five year chase of a man clearly not ready for her. She has accomplished a lot at her age to be sure. but that wounded girl inside the woman still seems alive and well.

At the beginning, I was mesmerized by her and found myself underlining her lush writing but I got tired and after a while lost patience with the many ways of saying the same thing. This book may appeal to someone who needs story such as hers, but I felt it required serious streamlining. One thing I will say is that the recipes she included do look wonderful and definitely worth trying. I have no doubt she is a fabulous chef.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Dial Press for the opportunity to read this advanced review copy and provide an honest review.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of memoirs, even those of people I know nothing about. Before starting "Extra Sauce", I had no idea who Zahra Tangorra was, but she reveals herself beautifully in her book. As the only child of divorced parents, Zahra felt terrible insecurity because her warring parents were not always able to give her the love she needed as they grappled with their own demons. Yet she found the moxie after a devastating accident to teach herself to cook and open her own, wildly popular restaurant at 26. I am in awe of people who have the guts to do things like that. After the closure of the restaurant, she continued to reinvent herself and even repaired her relationships with her parents.

I like that she included several of her recipes and that they all seem very accessible. You'll definitely feel hungry when reading this book!

Cooking is a love language, and preparing and eating good food involves all the senses. It is about family, friends, and memories, and Zahra openly shares those here.

I received an ARC ebook edition of this book from Netgalley and The Dial Press.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love memoirs particularly those of people in the food industry. Some of my favorites have been by women who have opened restaurants that are currently closed, leading to frustration in not being able to relish the delicious dishes described. This is such a case. Zahra Tangorra owned and ran Brucie, based on her beloved Italian cuisine in cobble hill Brooklyn for six years. The creations she describes seemed to my uneducated palate as gonzo chefdom, but intriguing and worth a trip if it were still open. Mouthwatering descriptions, some hilarious failures, and a loyal following. But since buisness acumen was not in her wheelhouse, she decided to close shop even when tables were difficult to obtain. There is also more than a little love here for New York by a writer who knows the city well, has lived there for the better part of her life, and a lot of rumination about life and family matters. Quite a memoir!

[Lea Columbus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Net Galley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I had never heard of Zahrs Tangorra before I saw this book on Net Galley. Now, I want to be her friend! Actually, I do feel like we are friends, such is the nature of the way this book is written. It is very much stream of consciousness. This is both good and bad, she writes like she is sitting , telling stories as you drink, which is fun, but often I wanted to stop and say- "what now?", during a tale.It jumps around a bit and can be hard to follow. She has had a interesting life, and her book is unsparing in her honesty. She talks about growing up, about a horrific bus accident , starting her restaurant in New York( Brucie), and much more.It is fun, it is raw, and it includes recipes! Again, thanks so much for this copy.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not just an autobiography it is also a guide to living. There is heartbreak, but also times of pure joy as Zahra reviews the people and loves in her life. There is a line in the acknowledgments at the end of the book describes the message of the book perfectly— In this wild and weird journey of living, may you hold on tight to your joy; it’s a life raft. And may you all have the best time.

Publishes on April 14, 2026

Grade: B+

[Kathleen]

EXTRA SAUCE is a memoir written by Zahra Tangorra.

I wish Zahra’s food memories began earlier in the book. Once she starts talking about “extra sauce,” I am all in. I like the use of the term as a metaphor. The addition of recipes is a nice bonus. Thank you, Random House and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of EXTRA SAUCE.

[Likestotravel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra Sauce was truly extra - filled with yummy sounding recipes and detailed, rambling memories. The book seemed to be an outpouring of pain and love - mixed throughout with heavy layers of food and family.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this DRC.

[JXR · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny and raw memoir where Tangorra lays her past bare but keeps it charming at every moment! i loved the vibes. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.