Taste and Tang: Designer Peter Som Finds a New Stage in Family Style Cookbook

Peter Som, the award-winning designer who built a signature ready-to-wear label in 2001 and later directed collections for Bill Blass while serving as a creative consultant for Tommy Hilfiger, has released Family Style: Elegant Everyday Recipes Inspired by Home and Heritage. The HarperCollins-published cookbook collects 100 recipes for breakfast, dinner, desserts and more, framed by Som’s signature sense of color, texture and storytelling. The project follows a career that bridged fashion and hospitality, with Som describing cooking as another form of craft that can be both stylish and welcoming.

In Chinese culture, sharing food is the love language — everything is interactive and communal — and the dishes are meant to be passed, scooped, swapped, and tasted from the middle of the table. The spirit of shared experiences shapes every recipe in Family Style, Som says, with dishes designed to be served family-style on big platters, inviting conversation and joy. The book, which Som discusses with journalist Matt Canals, centers on generous, unfussy flavors and bright finishes that feel appropriate for everyday meals as well as celebratory gatherings.

Som traces his transition from fashion to food to a belief that creativity operates across mediums. “Creativity is creativity — whether it’s a dress or a dish,” he says. He notes that cooking became a way to reconnect with his heritage and to tell stories through color, texture and emotion. Family Style, he says, ties memory, craft and the pleasure of bringing people to the table into a single project. The book collects a hundred recipes spanning breakfast, dinner, dessert and more, each meant to be shared and enjoyed together. He lists a few that have become signature crowd-pleasers in his own circles, including a crowd-pleasing Hoisin Honey Roast Chicken and a gochujang-kissed Gala Carrots recipe born from a late-night Met Gala craving.

Som’s go-to dinner party menu in the book is designed to be practical for hosts who want bold impact without complicated timing. A centerpiece of the menu is Hoisin Honey Roast Chicken, complemented by a rustic Radicchio and Fennel Salad with a Creamy Miso Maple Dressing. For a comforting finish, he leans on his apple cake with salted maple caramel, a dessert inspired by his grandmother’s apple dessert and refined for modern taste. The recipes are described as flexible, with many components that can be prepared ahead of time to reduce last-minute stress. The chef-turned-designer also shares a well-curated toolkit of flavor boosters that elevate dishes with minimal effort—chili crisp for heat and crunch, soy sauce for depth and salt, and Chinese Five Spice for a touch of scent-driven warmth that can tip a dish from fine to fantastic.

The book’s approach to flavor is complemented by Som’s attention to presentation. He notes that the tablescape is the runway for the food, even if it need not be elaborate. His guidance emphasizes a cohesive, tonal palette that aligns with the dishes and a few floral accents held in bud vases that keep conversation sight lines open. He suggests dimming lights and adding candles to set a mood without overshadowing the food, and he stresses that guests should be able to see one another across the table to keep the sociability intact.

A defining feature of the project is its sense of heritage and memory. Som, who founded his eponymous label and later contributed to other luxury houses, describes cooking as a language through which he can narrate his own history. The recipes reflect both Cantonese influence—through ingredients and technique—and a broader, globally inspired palate that he has cultivated through fashion industry collaborations. He emphasizes that the act of sharing food is as important as the flavors themselves, a sentiment that resonates with readers who view entertaining as an expression of generosity and family-oriented ritual.

Among the recipes highlighted in promotional materials is Som’s Golden Fried Rice—a comforting bowl that blends egg yolk-yellow strands with tender butternut squash and ribbons of egg to create a bright, substantial staple. He describes the dish as both homey and chic, offering a sense of nostalgia while remaining stylish enough for a dinner party. Another fan favorite is Gala Carrots, a dish born from a late-night Met Gala sprint that evolved into a mainstay on his dinner table. The carrots are roasted and finished with a quick gochujang and honey butter, a combination Som says has underscore the way simple ingredients can become dazzling with the right balance of heat and sweetness.

To broaden flavor vocabulary, Som highlights three boosters—chili crisp, soy sauce, and Chinese Five Spice—that can lift a wide range of dishes, from eggs and noodles to roasted vegetables and poultry. He argues that these ingredients offer depth, salt, and aroma in one easy step, making them a versatile toolkit for confident home cooks who want to elevate everyday meals.

The book’s recipes also invite readers to playful, accessible cooking that honors memory and heritage. Som shares a favorite comfort food—rice with a fried egg, soy sauce and scallions—as a humble dish that nevertheless evokes family kitchens and childhood kitchens. The dish stands as a reminder that comfort can be found in simplicity, even as the accompanying recipes celebrate more elaborate, dinner-party-ready fare. In his own words, feeding oneself and loved ones should be a joy, not a burden, and Family Style seeks to translate that joy into a practical, entertaining-friendly cookbook.

[Image: Peter Som Mahi Mahi Larb with Grapefruit Chili Crisp]

The recipes also underscore Som’s view of cooking as a bridge between cultures and generations. He frequently references his grandmother’s Cantonese cooking and his mother’s practical, French-influenced approach to meals, using these influences to craft dishes that feel both familiar and exploratory. His Met Gala anecdotes—starring women such as Maggie Gyllenhaal and Zoe Kazan—are less about fashion events and more about the social rituals of getting a table ready, sharing food, and creating memories around the table. The result is a cookbook that laces together design, memory and community, inviting both seasoned cooks and novices to bring a sense of ceremony and warmth to everyday meals.

Som’s project is also a reflection on how the creative impulse travels between disciplines. He describes his work in fashion as storytelling through color, texture and silhouette, and he applies the same language to food and tablescapes. The recipes in Family Style are calibrated to be practical for entertaining—yet they invite experimentation with bold flavors and generous servings that invite conversation. This cross-disciplinary approach—linking design with dining—aims to encourage readers to cultivate hospitality as an art form, with the table at the center of shared experience.

For readers seeking visual guidance to accompany the recipes, a companion image from the cookbook showcases the work and style of the author and the possibilities of his approach to home cooking and entertaining. The image captures the book’s artful presentation and the lifestyle orientation of Som’s culinary philosophy.

Som’s cooking philosophy is anchored in the idea that simple acts—prepping ahead, arranging a thoughtful tablescape, and serving generous portions—can transform a gathering into a celebration of connection. His emphasis on family-style sharing, his fondness for bold flavors and bright finishes, and his insistence on practicality for entertaining all contribute to a cookbook that reads as both memoir and manual. Family Style positions Som not only as a designer who shapes silhouettes, but as a home cook who shapes moments around the table. The book’s release adds a new dimension to his public persona, inviting audiences to experience his design sensibility through taste, aroma and texture, and to see dinner parties as a form of performance that reflects care, culture and craft.

[Hoisin Honey Roast Chicken]