An arrangement of colorful dishes in stone and clay bowls on a wood table.
Photo: Douglas Friedman

Marfa’s Culinary Culture, in a New Cookbook

By Aileen Kwun
July 18, 2020
1 minute read

Marfa may be known as a site of pilgrimage for lovers of minimalist art—its expansive desert sky, open landscape, and off-the-beaten path locale, home to Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation, continues to attract artists, musicians, and creatives. But for transplants, locals, and longtime residents of the small West Texas city, the isolated and unusual desert community is simply a way of life. “There is a certain vibration, a certain pitch small towns possess, especially this one,” write husband-and-wife duo Virginia Lebermann and Rocky Barnette in their new book, Cooking in Marfa: Welcome, We’ve Been Expecting You (Phaidon). The collection of essays and recipes, featuring local ingredients and dishes, from prickly pear to chicharrón, served up at their celebrated restaurant, The Capri, offers a forward-looking take on flavors and tastes from the Texan border—and plenty of poetic musings that are sure to feed both your hunger and your wanderlust for the eccentric town.