He's So Swede

A culinary nod to his new autobiography, "Yes, Chef"

We love a good rags-to-riches story, especially when it’s true, well deserved, and recounted by the convivial and talented Marcus Samuelsson.

His autobiography, Yes, Chef (out yesterday), starts with the journey to live with adoptive parents in Sweden after losing his birth mother to tuberculosis in Ethiopia and ends with the opening of Red Rooster Harlem, the restaurant where Obama digs the cornbread.

In honor of the moving tale, we asked Samuelsson to make his favorite childhood dish: the tastiest gravlax (cured salmon) sandwich this side of Scandinavia, just like his adoptive grandma used to make.

It’s a lunchtime treat.

And ensures your afternoon has a happily ever after.

Yes, Chef is available at amazon.com, $16.

More Amore

Dedicated Video E-mail: When in Rome

Blind dating. Speed dating. Online dating. You’ve tried everything in your shameless quest to find the perfect man.

So you’ll totally relate to When in Rome. The new film stars Kristen Bell as an ambitious, relationship-challenged New Yorker who takes a whirlwind trip to Rome. There she defiantly steals coins from a fountain of love, inexplicably igniting the passion of the men who threw them in.

Her new suitors include a sausage magnate (Danny DeVito), a street magician (Jon Heder), an adoring painter (Will Arnett), and a self-admiring model (Dax Shepard). But when a charming reporter (Josh Duhamel) pursues her with equal zest, she’ll have to determine if it’s the work of the coins or the real thing.

Which is still easier than online dating.

When in Rome opens this Friday. Check local listings for showtimes.