Merchant of Sonoma

Book excerpt: For the first time, the personal life story of one of America’s greatest culinary icons: Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma. Lovers of food, history, and great entrepreneurial success stories alike will be amazed to meet one of the most highly influential—and yet virtually unknown—figures of the American food world: Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma. Growing up during the Great Depression and building airplanes and houses during WWII little prepared Chuck for his first trip to Paris in 1953. There, he fell in love with something most Americans had never seen before: professional-caliber French cookware. Within a few years, he acquired a hardware store in the California wine country and started selling a few sauté pans, soufflé dishes, and brioche tins. What followed is history, as Williams-Sonoma has grown to become the leading cookware retailer in America. Readers will be surprised and delighted to discover the inimitable personality behind it all, whose love of good food, passion for customer service, and legendary good taste helped transform the American kitchen.