The occasion for the call was the reissue of “Entertaining,” Stewart’s first book, from 1982, long out of print. In the wake of two 2024 documentaries about Stewart, copies had become scarce, sparking bidding wars on resale websites. In response, Clarkson Potter released a facsimile edition, with not a word changed—not even “Oriental,” which recurs in reference to Asian cooking, or the dedication to Stewart’s now ex-husband, Andy, whom she divorced in 1990. In the introduction, Stewart writes, “As I read all the classics, what remained most vivid in my memory were the banquet scenes in Sir Walter Scott, the Roman punch dinners in Edith Wharton novels, and the country weekends in Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina.’ ” Her own book trades on a similarly absorbing, escapist allure. Warm, gauzy photographs depict a rustic kitchen hung with antique baskets and gleaming copper pots; militantly tidy arrangements of canapés; and a radiant young Stewart in a spotless white dress.journey-inline-newsletterinline-newsletter