'Chesnok: Cooking From My Corner Of The Diaspora' book launch with Polina Chesnakova

'Chesnok: Cooking From My Corner Of The Diaspora' book launch with Polina Chesnakova

Thursday, Feb 12, 2026 6:30 PM

Location:
Globus Books LLC
 332 Balboa Street

Dear Friends!

We are delighted to welcome Polina Chesnakova for an in-person presentation of her new cookbook Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora

(Hardie Grant Books, 2025)

Join us for an intimate evening of family stories, delicious recipes, and conversation, followed by a Q&A, book signing, and light refreshments.
A celebration of food and memory from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia — shared with warmth and heart.

Free admission 

RSVP

English language event 

 Polina Chesnakova - was born in Ukraine to Russian and Armenian parents from the country of Georgia. She was raised in a tight-knit Rhode Island community of refugees from all over the former Soviet Union, and has cooked and baked in a handful of professional kitchens. She’s had her blog (now newsletter) Chesnok since 2015, and her work has been published in Saveur, Epicurious, The Washington Post, and Food 52. She has written two cookbooks: Hot Cheese and Everyday Cake. She worked for Book Larder in Seattle and presided over the cooking class program as the Culinary Director from 2021–2023. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband, Lee, and son, Anton.

Chesnok - A love letter to the food of her childhood, acclaimed writer Polina Chesnakova shares 100 vibrant regional recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
From Georgian Tkemali (sour plum sauce), Uzbek and Azeri Plovs, and Armenian Gata (butter pastry) to Ukrainian Varenyky (dumplings), Russian Olivier Salad, and Medovik (honey cake), Chesnok is your invitation to learn the rich history of a people through their most cherished recipes and traditions. Essays, stories, and profiles of the amazing cooks in Polina's life are peppered amongst recipes as diverse as the communities from which they blossomed and the immigrant experience they were subsequently passed down in.