Barb Pratzel

×

Expand

Barb Pratzel has penned a memoir of her Manna Cafe, a beloved gathering spot that did not survive the downturn in business due to COVID-19. Pratzel has also recreated Manna recipes, downsizing them for the home cook. They're all right here; the oatmeal pancakes, sticky buns, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and more. Manna Cafe and Bakery Cookbook: A Memoir of Two Businesses, A Community, and The Food That Connected Them is available for pre-order here, or from barb@mannacafe.com. The launch party will feature light food from the Manna recipe file, cash bar, a raffle of some remaining memorabilia, and music by Lake Effect.

media release: Manna Cafe was more than a restaurant. It was a community that evolved from 35 years spent nourishing customers with from-scratch bakery, creative meals, and a vibrant, welcoming space. Here, the lives of patrons and staff intertwined, and the cafe became a home and crossroads for many. This combination cookbook-memoir caps off the shared career of a wife and husband whose talent for cooking and hospitality first delighted guests at the Collins House Bed and Breakfast, then attendees at catered events, and ultimately the cafe-goers who stood in lines out the door for their famous oatmeal pancakes, sticky buns, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and so much more. With double-tested recipes for these and other beloved Manna Cafe specialties, plus detailed instructions and kitchen insights gained through decades in the industry, this book is for cooks of all skill levels. Bringing the recipes to life is the story of how two people discovered a Madison they loved and their path to running two businesses that reflected their lives, passions, and values. 

Now available for preorder is Manna Cafe and Bakery Cookbook: A Memoir of Two Businesses, A Community, and The Food That Connected Them! Our beautiful book is nearly 400 pages in softcover, including about 150 recipes surrounded by a loving memoir, stories, and lore of the path to Manna. The price is $32 plus tax.

You can preorder books in one of two ways: ORDER through Little Creek Press, my wonderful local publisher, by clicking on this link. Your order will be shipped upon the book's publication, just after the launch.

http://littlecreekpress.com/bookstore/manna-cafe-and-bakery-cookbooka-memoir-of-two-businesses-a-community-and-the-food-that-connected-them/

OR

ORDER directly from us IF you will be attending the launch party, and would like to pick your copies up that evening, signed and ready to go (we don't ship). In that case send an e-mail to barb@mannacafe.com, and we will contact you with ordering details. Payment should be through Venmo or PayPal. As always, let us know if you'd like to be added to the mailing list.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Barb Pratzel

Barb Pratzel was a UW Journalism School graduate and science writer whose career took a decidedly sharp right turn into the world of bed and breakfasts, catering, and restaurants. Then, for 35 years she welcomed guests to her inn and customers to her cafe and bakery, all the while cultivating recipes that helped define a community. When the 2020 pandemic caused the widely beloved Manna Cafe to close, she turned once again to writing, grateful to bring her career full circle with this memoir-cookbook, the joyous result.

Barb is a New York transplant who fell in love with Madison, Wisconsin, at first sight and lives here still. She has two children deeply rooted in the ethos of small business culture and a husband (aka business partner/lifelong companion) whose love of a loaf of bread has amply sustained her, like Manna.