Your own editorial photo shoot
A professional photographer in your kitchen for half a day: you cooking, the family at the table, the friends who drop by.
Speak with us(312) 468-9319
The art of the private world.
Your family's culinary heritage, preserved for generations.
A private publishing experience that writes, photographs and designs your family's recipes, stories and traditions into an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind edition.
Our publishing house
Every table holds a world of its own.
In its recipes, its rituals and its people, a family's culture takes shape. We believe preserving it should be an extraordinary experience in itself, rooted in hospitality from the first conversation to the final page. The result is more than a book: a private edition, kept for generations.
The experience
Ask the people you love what they love.
Make something of it.
Everything that happens at her table.
Every recipe, made beautiful
A stained card, a voice note, a text message: we transcribe it by hand, keep it true to their words, and set it beautifully, with its story and its picture.
Up to 12 wine pairings
With notes from our sommelier on why each wine belongs with the dish, and a bottle for the signature dish as our gift.
Everyone at the table adds theirs
Children, grandchildren, the friend who has eaten there for forty years: each sends a recipe and its story, from any phone, to complete the book.
Their story, written
Not only a book of photographs: we write the story of their kitchen ourselves, in their own voice, up to 15,000 words beside every recipe.
One edition, numbered and bound in Italy
Linen, a dust jacket, her monogram. Made once, for her family alone.
The photographs
One afternoon at the stove. Every dish in the book.
In your kitchen
Your own editorial photo shoot
A professional photographer comes to your kitchen for half a day. We want to see you cooking, the family at the table, the friends who always drop by: the hands, the steam, the laughter. An extraordinary afternoon you'll talk about for years, photographed the way a magazine would.
The Studio Recreations
Every other dish, recreated by our studio
From the family's own words, on their own plates, in the same light as the rest of the book. Our art directors work with the newest image tools, and the family sees every image and asks for changes until it looks like theirs. No one has to cook every dish for a camera, and no recipe goes without its picture.
See the photographs“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1825
Our ultimate mission
The highest standard of hospitality, in your family's own kitchen.
The experience
Extraordinary, in their own kitchen
For your mother, your father or your grandparents. We come with an editor, a photographer and our sommelier. They cook and they tell; we take care of everything else.
The book
One numbered edition
Every recipe, story and photograph, written and designed by our editors, printed and bound in Italy. Made once, for your family alone.
The legacy
Their cooking, kept
Written down for the generations after, so the family can still cook it, and know where it came from.
Where would you like to begin?
Inside the book
Everyone at the table, on their own page.
The Hartwell Kitchen
Index · a sample edition
Mornings
- 12Saturday PancakesEleanor
- 14Huevos a la Mexicana, the Way Dad Made ThemLucía
- 17Cardamom Buns for the Cold MonthsIngrid, next door
- 19The Green Juice Nobody Asked ForDaniel
- 21Chilaquiles, the Morning After the WeddingLucía and Tom
Weeknights
- 34Tuesday ChiliAunt Ruth
- 36Lemon Chicken, One PanPriya
- 39The Rice That Fixes EverythingAbuela Carmen
- 41Fish Tacos, Our WayMarco
- 44Pasta for When It RainsSofia, age nine
Sundays
- 58Sunday RagùEleanor
- 62Brisket, Low and SlowWalter
- 65Mole from the Other Side of the FamilyAbuela Carmen
- 68Roast Chicken with Too Much GarlicJamie and Ben
- 71Pozole for the Whole BlockTío Rafa
On the Side
- 84Roasted Sweet PotatoesDaniel
- 86ChaatPriya
- 88The Seven-Layer DipCousin Meg
- 90Frijoles de la OllaAbuela Carmen
Desserts
- 102Pecan Pie, the One She Won’t ShareAunt Ruth
- 105Tres Leches for Every BirthdayLucía
- 108Halwa, with AlmondsAsha, Priya’s mother
- 110Chocolate Chip Cookies, Flaky SaltMarco
- 112The Flan That Never Sets the Same Way TwiceTía Lupe
To Drink
- 124Walter’s Old FashionedWalter
- 126Agua de JamaicaSofia and her abuela
- 128A Wine for the RagùOur sommelier
- 130Hot Chocolate for Christmas EveEveryone
Where we work
In your kitchen, in four cities.
We come to you in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and New York: the photographer for the kitchen, our founders for the conversation.
San FranciscoLos AngelesNew YorkMiamiThe art of the private world
Why the Private Collection?
A family's kitchen, kept
The dishes a family is known for usually live in one person's hands. We write them down with the stories inside them, so the generations after can cook them, and know where they came from.
With you at every step
We help you remember, help you write it down, and collect every recipe, story and old photograph. We reach every aunt and cousin until they're in. You bring the stories; we carry the rest.
Made like a fine book
A writer from the world of food books finds the story, a professional photographer turns an afternoon in your kitchen into your own editorial shoot, and our sommelier pairs a wine with every dish. Printed and bound in Italy, numbered, made once.
Nothing printed without you
You read every page before it goes to the printer. Half to begin, the rest only when you've approved the printed proof.
“We are where the detail and hospitality of fine dining meet luxury publishing. The experience is our product. The book is your legacy.”
Inquire
Begin with a conversation.
We are looking for the family food traditions worth honoring and keeping: the dishes a family is known for, the tables that have held generations. Tell us about yours. If it belongs in the collection, we will write to arrange an introduction.