Lake Isle Press, an independent publishing house that was founded in New York City in 1990, is the founding publisher of Rachael Ray's "30-Minute Meals" franchise. The company later broadened its scope to other culinary themes, including gluten-free cooking and baking, solo cooking, and healthy microwave meals. Eventually, Lake Isle Press came to specialize in cookbooks rooted in ethnic cuisines that were then unfamiliar to most home cooks, including Latin American, African, African-American, Indian, and Middle Eastern. The company takes its name from the W.B. Yeats poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."
Early history Lake Isle was founded in 1990. Its first titles were "Contemporary One-Dish Meals" by Mara Reid Rogers and "Low Fat Living for Real People" by Linda Levy and Francine Grabowski; both titles are now out of print.
Among the highlights of Lake Isle Press's first decade was the publication of the paperback edition of James Beard Foundation Award winning cookbook author Jim Fobel's book "Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book."
The Rachael Ray revolution Toward the end of its first decade, Lake Isle Press Publisher Hiroko Kiiffner received a call from an unknown recipe developer from upstate New York with a request to publish her new cookbook. Though Kiiffner was skeptical, she agreed to a meeting, and was immediately taken with the young author's energy and philosophy of cooking. Lake Isle Press published "Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals" in 1998 and an enduring cooking franchise was born. Lake Isle Press published thirteen books with Rachael Ray, including the popular "Rachael Ray's Classic 30-Minute Meals."
The next stage As Ray moved onto Food Network fame and signed a deal with Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, Lake Isle Press retained control of the 30-Minute Meals titles published by Lake Isle Press, and turned its focus to exploring culinary niches, such as salads and gluten-free recipes, and ethnic cuisines with authentic recipes from chefs and culinary authorities including: Pierre Thiam, a Senegalese chef based in America, is a pioneer of African cuisine and founder of Yolélé, the purpose-driven natural food company that is centered on fonio, an ancient African supergrain. Pierre is executive chef and co-founder of Teranga in New York City and also the executive chef of the award-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria and the Signature Chef of the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal. His Lake Isle Press titles include "Yolélé: Recipes from the Heart of Senegal"; "Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl," written with Jennifer Sit; and "The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered." "Yolélé" won the 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Special Jury Award and was a finalist for the 2009 IACP Cookbook Award Julia Child First Book Award2009 IACP Cookbook Award Julia Child First Book Award "Senegal" was a nominee for a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award. Pierre was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame in June 2024. Vikas Khanna is executive chef of New York City's acclaimed restaurant, Bungalow, and founding chef of the Michelin-starred Junoon. Since 2011, he has a judge on MasterChef India. His two titles with Lake Isle Press are "Flavors First: An Indian Chef's Culinary Journey," winner of a 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award, and Return to the Rivers: Recipes and Memories of the Himalayan Valleys," nominated for a 2014 James Beard Foundation Book Award. Jose Garces is an American chef and restaurant owner who won the second season of The Next Iron Chef. He was named 2009: Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, James Beard Foundation. Jose's titles with Lake Isle Press are "Latin Evolution" and "The Latin Road Home." Lake Isle Press was acquired by Globe Pequot in January 2026. The acquisition added Lake Isle Press's cookbook catalogue to Globe Pequot's existing food and cooking titles.
Awards 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Special Jury Award: "Yolélé, Recipes from the Heart of Senegal" 2009 IACP Julia Child First Book Award: "Yolélé, Recipes from the Heart of Senegal" Finalist, 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award: "Raising the Salad Bar" Finalist, 2010 Benjamin Franklin Award: "Easy Gluten-Free Baking" Winner, 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award: Flavors First: An Indian Chef's Culinary Journey" Silver Winner, 2014 Benjamin Franklin Award: Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook" Nominee, 2014 James Beard Foundation Award: "Return to the Rivers: Recipes and Memories of the Himalayan Valleys" Nominee, 2016 James Beard Foundation Award: "Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl"
Lake Isle Press publishing history + Lake Isle Press Titles Title Author Publication Date ISBN Contemporary One Dish Meals Mara Reid Rogers 1/1/90 9780962740306 Out of print Tray Gourmet Larry Berger and Lynn Harris 5/17/95 9780962740329 Out of print Instant Ethnic Cook Mara Reid Rogers 5/17/95 9780962740343 Out of printLow-Fat Living for Real PeopleLinda Levy and Francine Grabowski, M.S., R.D.12/29/979780962740350Out of print Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book Jim Fobel 4/2/96 9780962740367 Glorious Liqueurs Mary Aurea Morris 10/1/96 9780962740374 Fresh Eggs George Moran 10/7/97 9780962740381 Serves One Toni Lydecker 4/27/98 9781891105012 30-Minute Meals Rachael Ray 7/20/99 9781891105036 Comfort Foods: Rachael Ray's top 30 30-Minute Meals Rachael Ray 11/7/00 9781891105050 Veggie Meals: Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals Rachael Ray 5/15/01 9781891105067 The Best Diet on Earth Linda Levy and Francine Grabowski, M.S., R.D. CDE 4/14/03 9781891105081 Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 Rachael Ray 5/22/03 9781891105104 Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals Get Togethers Rachael Ray 10/3/03 9781891105111 Cooking Rocks: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids Rachael Ray 9/20/04 9781891105159 At Hanka's Table Hanka Sawka 9/20/04 9781891105098 Rachael Ray: Best Eats in Town on $40 A Day Rachael Ray 10/12/04 781891105173 Kid Food: Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Rachael Ray 9/21/05 9781891105227 Guy Food: Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Rachael Ray 9/21/05 9781891105210 Small World of Antique Doll's Houses Flora Gill Jacobs 12/13/05 9781891105074 Boy Eats World! David Lawrence 4/26/06 9781891105256 Rachael Ray's Open House Cookbook Rachael Ray 9/5/06 9781891105319 Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion CookbookRachael Ray9/26/069781891105302 In Nirmala's Kitchen Nirmala Narine 10/4/06 9781891105265 The Cook-Zen Cookbook: Microwave Cooking the Japanese Way — Simple, Healthy, and Delicious Machiko Chiba 5/30/07 9781891105340 Raising the Salad Bar Catherine Walthers 6/05/07 9781891105333 Latin Evolution Jose Garces 8/4/08 9781891105371 The New African-American Kitchen Angela Shelf Medearis 8/21/08 9781891105395 Yolele: Recipes from the Heart of Senegal Pierre Thiam 8/25/08 9781891105388 Easy Gluten-Free Baking Elizabeth Barbone 3/16/09 9781891105418 Ten Ingredients for a Joyous Life and Peaceful Home Angela Shelf Medearis 5/16/09 9781891105401 Out of print Seafood Alla Siciliana Toni Lydecker 9/16/09 9781891105425 The Cook-Zen Way To Eat: Microwaving Healthy and Delicious Meals in Minutes Machiko Chiba 8/16/10 9781891105449 Soups + Sides Catherine Walthers 9/16/10 9781891105456 Kitchen Diva Cooks Angela Shelf Medearis 12/16/10 9781891105463 Out of Print Flavors First: An Indian Chef's Culinary Journey Vikas Khanna 7/16/11 9781891105470 Piatto Unico: When One Course Makes a Real Italian Meal Toni Lydecker 10/16/11 9781891105487 Party Like a Culinista Jill Donenfeld and Joseth Gordon 10/16/11 9781891105500 How to Cook Gluten-Free Elizabeth Barbone 3/16/12 9781891105517 The Latin Road Home Jose Garces 10/8/11 9781891105494 Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook Camilla V. Saulsbury 9/10/13 9781891105548 Return to the Rivers Vikas Khanna with Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn 12/7/13 9781891105531 Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl Pierre Thiam and Jennifer Sit 9/15/15 9781891105555 The Chickpea Flour Cookbook Camilla V. Saulsbury 10/7/15 781891105562 World's Easist Paleo Baking Elizabeth Barbone 1/7/16 9781891105579 The Cook-Zen Wagashi Cookbook Machiko Chiba 1/7/18 9781891105623 The Bread & Salt Between Us: Recipes & Stories From a Syrian Refugee's Kitchen Mayada Anjari with Jennifer Sit 9/7/18 9781891105630 The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered Pierre Thiam 11/11/19 9781891105692
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