LI's Chef Eric LeVine Authors 'Forkin' Good' Cookbook: 'Geared Towards The Home Cook'

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LI's Chef Eric LeVine Authors 'Forkin' Good' Cookbook: 'Geared Towards The Home Cook' "It brings people back to the kitchen, back to the table," said the award-winning chef, who hopes people will feel the "love in each dish."

FARMINGDALE, NY — Chef Eric LeVine, a managing partner of 317 Main Street in Farmingdale, published "Forkin' Good," his fourth cookbook.

"Forkin' Good is a place where I add what I've been cooking over the past couple of years at 317," LeVine told Patch. "It's sharing recipes and ideas of things that we've done here. The style that I'm cooking with. It covers a wide range, so there's everything from appetizers to desserts, vegan dishes, pasta dishes, seafood, meat. It leans across the board, whereas my past couple of books were focused more on specific things."

"Burgers, Bowls and Jars," focused on burgers and jarred foods; "Small Bites, Big Flavors" put small appetizers at the forefront; and "Stick It, Spoon It, Put It In A Glass" was geared toward the catering and restaurant industries.

"Forkin' Good," what LeVine says is his "most complete" cookbook, can be found on Amazon . He plans to sell copies at 317 Main Street once they come in, he said.

LeVine said the cookbook makes a great gift with the holiday season coming up.

"It's a lot of fun," he said. "It brings people back to the kitchen, back to the table."

LeVine said he hopes his cookbooks foster bonding among loved ones.

"We're so involved in our own worlds: Mom and dad are working, the kids are running around. Bring people back to the kitchen and have fun together cooking, because cooking, when you think about it growing up, that was the hub. Every party, every family gathering, was about food. It always surrounded food. My greatest memories are when my grandmother cooked for me. I always love to be able to share that. Hopefully people will feel that same thing, the love in each dish."

LeVine is the reigning back-to-back Long Island Chef of the Year in the Bethpage Best Awards for 2023 and 2024. He is a champion of The Food Network's "Chopped." He was also featured on "Beat Bobby Flay," "Food Paradise," and "Alex Vs America," and "Morimoto's Sushi Master," among other shows.

While LeVine is known for crafting delicious recipes at 317 Main Street and in competitions, he said a "key" to "Forkin' Good" is that people should not feel intimidated by his recipes.

"Everything is geared towards the home cook," he said. "Not geared toward the restaurant, the restaurant industry or the professional chef. It's geared towards the person who loves to try different things at home, recipes that have been done multiple times in multiple ways. And it's things that we would even use in our cooking classes at 317 Main Street. It's dishes and ideas that come broad-stroke. There's nothing that's difficult. Things that are very common; just twisted my way."

The foreword was written by Kathy Fang, who hosts "House of Fang" on The Food Network. She also has a restaurant in California. LeVine called her an "amazing chef."

"I was inspired by her, because I saw someone who was a go-at-it person," LeVine said. "So when we talked about it, she was like, 'I don't know how to write a foreword.' I said, 'Here are some ideas from the book. Build it from there. You know who I am.' So for me, it was really cool to have her do it. Coming from a different point of view. Someone who knows me but not someone I've known forever. Someone who I've just gotten to know. That was a cool thing."

Other testimonials on the back of the book came from Maneet Chauhan, a chef LeVine met on "Chopped;" Eric Adjepong, the host of "Alex Vs. America;" Dakota Weiss, who judged LeVine on "Morimoto's Sushi Master;" Simon Majumdar, a host on The Food Network who judged LeVine on "Alex Vs. America;" and David Burke, LeVine's mentor.

"He's the biggest influence on my career," LeVine said.

LeVine worked for Burke in the late 1980s at the River Cafe.

"[LeVine] has carried the culinary torch of great creativity, sound cooking, and high level hospitality to become one of New York's greatest chefs," Burke wrote.

Chauhan lauded LeVine's ability to offer signature dishes in an approachable way that "demystifies the art of elevating dishes and techniques to make delicious, wholesome food."

Weiss said LeVine's food has been called "weird," which is a "big compliment among chefs."

"It means you're thinking outside the box and pushing limits," Weiss wrote.

LeVine, when seeking people to comment on his book, said he wanted peers who reflected where he was at currently in his career.

"I just had all these people who are in my circle who I asked to be a part of it and who wanted to be a part of it," he said. "The things they wrote were really, really nice. It was humbling. Very humbling."