About Lake Isle Press
Lake Isle Press publishes trailblazing books for adventurous cooks. We collaborate with innovative chefs and food writers to introduce exciting new tastes and techniques to the home cook. Our unique cookbooks present diverse, authentic recipes, ingredients, and cuisines from top culinary masters around the globe.
Early History
Our company was founded in 1990. Our goal was to publish topical content that reached across cultural divides; we quickly turned our focus to cookbooks and the universal language of food.
Lake Isle Press’s first titles were “Contemporary One-Dish Meals” by Mara Reid Rogers and “Low Fat Living for Real People” by Linda Levy and Francine Grabowski. The company moved forward over the next few years with a mix of solo efforts and publishing partnerships. Jane left the day-to-day operations and Hiroko took over sole management.
Among the highlights of that time was Lake Isle Press’s relationship with James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Jim Fobel; Lake Isle Press eventually published the paperback edition of his landmark baking bible “Jim Fobel’s Old-Fashioned Baking Book,” a book of heirloom baking recipes rediscovered and updated for modern tastes.
The Rachael Ray Revolution
Toward the end of our first decade, Hiroko received a call from an unknown, untried recipe developer from upstate New York with a request to publish her new cookbook. Though Hiroko 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 nine books with Rachael Ray, including the popular “Rachael Ray’s Classic 30-Minute Meals.”
The Next Stage
As Rachael moved onto Food Network fame, Lake Isle Press discovered new authors that took our company in exciting and diverse directions. Top international chefs, including Pierre Thiam, Jose Garces, and Vikas Khanna joined the Lake Isle Press roster, and our imprint honed its focus on exploring ethnic cuisines with authentic recipes from culinary experts.
Today our catalog incorporates a range of cookbooks that celebrate the art of cooking from varying global perspectives. Our authoritative authors make exciting, underexplored world cuisines accessible to the home cook. With an eye for what’s new and a taste for the unexpected, Lake Isle Press identifies and cultivates what’s next in world cuisine.