The Late Bloom & Other Recipes

Hayden Fletcher

In this appetizing collection of essays and recipes, Hayden Fletcher introduces you to the people he loves and the food he likes to eat with them. On the brink of graduating, Fletcher captures a year of cooking, baking, and enjoying food inspired by friends and family to try and slow down the sticky ascent into adulthood. From sweet and spicy variations on Spanish tortilla, to bacon and peanut-flecked dog treats, to a gluten-free cake that turned out just a little bit weird, this book invites you to succeed and fail wholeheartedly in the kitchen. 

Published in the Spring 2025 Collection.

  • “'Sometimes the best food is a secret. Not secret as a way to build distance between you and others, but to close it.' In these engaging essays about food, family and friendship, Hayden Fletcher pulls all of us close. From an imaginary chip shop in a Kenyon College dorm, to a bakery-pizza joint in Mystic, CT, these beautifully human stories share delicious bites from their plates. Nobody can tell these stories better because they are pulled from Fletcher’s personal pantry which is well stocked with his confident, humorous voice, abundant empathy, exceptional craft, and undeniably great taste. Read this to feel well-loved and well-fed.”

    SHEILA SQUILLANTE, author of All Things Edible, Random and Odd: Essays on Grief, Love and Food

  • "In 'The Late Bloom and Other Recipes,' Hayden Fletcher does what exemplary food writers do: transport. We, at once, indulge in cakes and hot dogs and tortillas...and dog treats. But there is more: Fletcher reminds us that food is not just about individual satiation but it is a communal experience that connects people and cultures and generations, that reminds us that taste, out all the senses we possess, fills us with longing and need, a reminder of the people we once were in the spaces we once knew, and always looking toward the foods yet to come."

    IRA SUKRUNGRUANG, author of This Jade World

  • "If sharing a meal is an act of love, then The Late Bloom and Other Recipes is one of the most loving books I’ve read. In these intimate essays, Fletcher sets his reader a place at the table, inviting them to break bread with him as he probes questions around family, love, loss, and the power of imagination. Each essay—like each of the culinary goods Fletcher describes—is offered as an act of care, a gift, unfailingly tender, generous, and fresh-from-the-oven warm. A delectable, nourishing read."

    ALYSSA QUINN, author of Habilis

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Smarty Jones | Spring 2025