Ben Katchor

Ben Katchor, the first cartoonist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, is the author of, among other books, Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer; The Cardboard Valise; and The Jew of New York. He teaches at Parsons/The New School in New York City. In The Dairy Resturant (Schocken) Katchor retells the history of where we choose to eat. That history starts with the first man who was allowed to enter a walled garden and encouraged by the garden’s owner to enjoy its fruits. Katchor then examines the biblical milk-and-meat taboo, the first vegetarian practices, and the invention of the restaurant. Through text and drawings, he explores the historical confluence of events and ideas leading to the “milekhdike (dairy) personality” and the proliferation of dairy restaurants in America, and he recollects his own experiences in many of these iconic restaurants just before they disappeared. Kirkus Reviews noted its “Colorful anecdotes, trivia, and food lore” and called it “ An informative, nostalgic evocation of a special urban dining experience.”