Arcana:

(SLAPS, YARROW). Luggage Store Gallery, I00210216, 2021. 9 x 12 in., 304 pages. Hardbound. New/No Jacket - As Issued.

Is the ramen craze over? While Lucky Peach’s Chris Ying might think it’s waning, and says so in the preface to this book, the new compendium RAMEN FOREVER: AN ARTIST’S GUIDE TO RAMEN is a resounding rebuttal to that claim. Over a decade after gourmet noodle shops began opening throughout the United States, ramen is here to stay and has never looked or tasted better!

More than a cookbook, RAMEN FOREVER is an illustrated love letter to this deceptively simple dish initiated by San Francisco-based artist and SWIM Gallery director Yarrow Slaps, whose obsession with ramen of all kinds has led to his visiting ramen shops around the world and to having deep conversation with top chefs, foodies and food bloggers, and the artists that have lived off of instant noodle soup packets before ramen became a trend. Interviews with ramen heroes including Moe Kuroki (Boston’s Oisa Ramen), Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (Taishoken, San Mateo), Hans Lienesch aka “The Ramen Rater,” Esther Choi (Mokbar - NY), and Sam White (Ramen Shop Oakland) give an insider’s view into gourmet ramen spots across the global diaspora. For those that can’t travel to all of these ramen spots, this book will inspire major mouth envy!

Don’t fear, however, because RAMEN FOREVER has plenty of inspiration for creative home cooks. Over 80 of the urban art scene’s most celebrated artists, including Justin Hager and Kristen Liu-Wong, contribute their own illustrated instant noodle recipes that have gotten them through struggle times. The recipes range from playful (“Hot Trash Ramen—best when you’re drunk”) to critical (“Opium War Lamian—a rustic and flavorful noodle soup enjoyed by belligerents during an unjust, cruel, and brutal colonial conflict”) to restorative (“Radiant Recovery Ramen”), showcasing the true versatility of ramen as a dish for every occasion, for people of every background and every budget.

A feast for the eyes and the belly, RAMEN FOREVER should be your next coffee table book, and makes a great gift for the art lover and ramen eater in your life—and that can be you, too. 9780578661575 Inventory Number: I00210216