His “La Figa” cookbook is quite revealing

Quite frankly, there are few cookbooks on the market like the new “La Figa: Visions of Food and Form” by Tiberio Simone.

With recipes and numerous essays by Chef Simone and photography by Matt Freedman, “La Figa” is filled with arresting images of people in their natural glory.

Using naked bodies as canvases and fresh food like sliced cucumbers, roasted coffee beans, blueberries, strawberries, avocado and chocolate drizzles as his paint, James Beard Award-award Tiberio creates dramatic place settings, as it were.

A self-described “pleasure artist,” Simone’s work is definitely sexual and sensual, but is not “erotic” per se, like as some hokey, cornball cake shaped like human anatomy.

Rather, the book is an exploration of the body with food as a window into human life.

Notably, Simone’s “models” are normal people and come in every shape and form, age, ethnicity and gender. The only requirement is a little trust in a chef and a photographer.

lafigaproject.com

– Greg Thilmont

Simone is a vibrant personality in and of himself, as we leaned while he gathered salad fixings in his home garden. Enjoy the HD video >>>