
This event has passed
The Bottomless Cup: Meet the Author Kevin Boehm
Featured Book

The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants, and Forgiveness
An eye-opening, entertaining, and unflinchingly honest memoir that reads like The Tender Bar meets The Bear James Beard Award–winning restaurateur Kevin Boehm has opened 40 restaurants in his 30-year career. He’s worked with hard-core line cooks and celebrity chefs, suffered embarrassing setbacks, and won Michelin stars. Today his Boka Group is one of the most successful restaurant companies in the world. But Boehm’s path was a complicated one. A turbulent family life and a shocking revelation about his father drove him out into the world in search of a home. He found one in restaurants. Amidst other gifted and damaged people, he discovered the magic of hospitality and the thrill of a dining room on the edge of chaos. The Bottomless Cup is Boehm’s vibrant, funny and frank account of a life in and out of restaurants. This is a memoir about dropping out and finding your place, about opening nights and what comes after, about chefs, partners, guests, and critics. The Bottomless Cup is a story of ambition and adrenaline, of reaching remarkable highs and reckoning with the costs.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
We are pleased to be on hand as The Highland Park Public Library hosts James Beard Award winner and Boka Restaurant Group cofounder Kevin Boehm at Edgewood Middle School to discuss his book The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants, and Forgiveness. Kevin Boehm has opened 50 restaurants, working alongside everyone from line cooks to celebrity chefs. Along the way, he has faced setbacks, earned Michelin stars, appeared on The Bear, and served as a judge on Top Chef. His book is a story of ambition, adrenaline, extraordinary highs, and the personal costs that come with them. He'll be in conversation with Monica Eng, an award-winning, veteran Chicago reporter who now serves as an Axios Chicago reporter.
Books will be for sale, and Mr. Boehm will be happy to sign his works. The first 10 attendees to arrive will receive a copy of the book.
Featured Author
Kevin Boehm
Kevin Boehm is cofounder of the Boka Group and winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2019. He has opened 40 restaurants over the last 30 years, including Girl & the Goat, Swift & Sons, Momotaro, GT Prime, Alla Vita, Duck Duck Goat, Little Goat, GT Fish & Oyster, Cira, Lazy Bird, Cabra, Girl & The Goat Los Angeles, and Laser Wolf Brooklyn, among others. He has been a featured or keynote speaker at dozens of conferences, festivals, and universities, and currently sits on the board of the Illinois Restaurant Association, Open Table, 826 CHI, and Steppenwolf Theatre. Boehm has written for Esquire, the Chicago Sun Times, McSweeney’s, and Fast Company. He lives in Chicago.
About the Venue
More at The Book Stall

Children of the Wolf: An Evening with Abby Geni
The Book Stall welcomes award-winning author Abby Geni to the store for a discussion featuring her new book, Children of the Wolf, in partnership with Off Campus Writers' Workshop and Kelly Q Anderson. A woman notices a pattern of men disappearing in her small town, reawakening memories of her childhood raised by a father obsessed with his violent Viking heritage. Amanda Peters, author of The Berry Pickers, says, “Abby Geni’s writing is evocative, the story is unique, and the ethical dilemma played out in the book will linger long after the last page. A truly great read!”Abby Geni is a novelist and short story writer living in Evanston. She is the author of The Body Farm, longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the Story Prize; The Wildlands, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; The Lightkeepers, winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and the Chicago Review of Books Awards; and The Last Animal, a finalist for the Orion Book Award. Her short stories and essays have appeared in dozens of literary publications, including Best American Mystery and Suspense, The Missouri Review, Epoch, Ninth Letter, and New Stories from the Midwest. Geni is a faculty member at StoryStudio Chicago and a recipient of the Iowa Fellowship.Now celebrating its 80th anniversary season, Off Campus Writers' Workshop serves a global community of writers in all genres from our metropolitan Chicago home. Kelly Q. Anderson is an award-winning writer whose work has been anthologized, performed on stage, adapted for film, and installed for public art. She consults, teaches, and leads workshops on captivating storytelling, both in-person and online. She is a board member, the Director of Promotions, and former President of Off Campus Writers' Workshop, a global writing community with over 500+ members (learn more at OCWW.info).

Hollow Bones: An Afternoon with Jodi Picoult
The Book Stall welcomes Jodi Picoult to The Skokie School Auditorium for a discussion featuring her new book, Hollow Bones. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name comes a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner. The ticket price is $40.50 and includes a signed copy of the book. Attendees will be invited to take a professional photo with Ms. Picoult following the talk! Please note, Ms. Picoult will not be personalizing copies at the event.

Shadow Before the Flame: An Evening with Catherine Grace Katz
The Book Stall is thrilled to welcome Winnetka native and acclaimed historian, Catherine Grace Katz for a discussion of her new book, Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War at the Winnetka Chapel. In this rigorously researched, ticking-clock account, Shadow Before the Flame offers a portrait of an era when illusions of peace, fueled by the hubris of invention, hovered in suspended time as the clouds of an inevitable war loomed on the horizon. Ms. Katz will be in-conversation with Book Stall resident historian Jon Grand. Doors open at 6:30, join us early for mingling before the talk at 7:00!The ticket price is $45 and includes a copy of the book. Ms. Katz will be happy to sign her works! Please note, additional copies will be for sale at the event. Catherine Grace Katz is a writer and historian from Winnetka, IL and the author of the acclaimed history, The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War. She received degrees in History from Harvard and Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, and a JD from Harvard Law School. Alongside her work as an historian, Catherine is an associate at an international law firm in Washington, D.C.