Thought for Food is The Books' first album. It contains all the characteristic elements of their sound: rich and varied sampling from a variety of mundane and instrumental sources combined into songs.

Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed Thought for Food at number 125 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

The Books were an American duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech. They have released three critically acclaimed albums on the German label Tomlab, and released their fourth studio album, The Way Out, on Temporary Residence Limited in July 2010.

Zammuto and de Jong first met in New York City in 1999 as they shared the same apartment building. De Jong invited Zammuto to dinner at his apartment, where he played him some of his collection of audio and video samples, including a Shooby Taylor record. Zammuto said of their meeting that "we both kind of knew at that moment that we listened (to music) in interesting ways and had similar approaches to music." Soon after, they began playing what they considered to be pop music, in comparison to their own works, under the name The Books.

In 2000, The Books started work on what would become their début album Thought for Food. Zammuto and de Jong moved locations constantly during this time, recording in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and finally in the basement of a hostel in North Carolina where Zammuto worked for a while after hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Bronze Nazareth (born Justin Cross in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a Hip-Hop music producer and emcee associated with the Wu-Tang Clan. He is, along with Cilvaringz, part of the new generation of producers to carry on the Wu-Tang sound. He has a solo career as an emcee and is also a part of the hip-hop group Wisemen along with his brother Kevlaar 7.

He was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. Around 1998, Bronze Nazareth met with producer and rapper Cilvaringz who was impressed by his work and added him to his own production team and label Ringz & Partners Inc. with whom Bronze released the internet-only release The Unknown - Death's Birth: The Grip Of Behemoths in 2002. From there, the two worked the rounds of contacts within the clan's extended associates. Eventually he was asked by RZA to join the Wu's in-house team. He furthered his technique and sound. Bronze went on to contribute two beats to RZA's solo album Birth of a Prince. He produced most of the 2005 compilation album Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture, released on Dreddy Kruger's label Think Differently Music. In 2006 he released his solo debut on this label titled The Great Migration to critical acclaim. It features Wu-Tang Clan affiliates such as Timbo King, Prodigal Sunn and Killa Sin. He produced the majority (11 out of 13 tracks) for Sunz Of Man member 60 Second Assassin's debut solo album Remarkable Timing, along with contributing to affiliated 9th Prince, Timbo King, and Prodigal Sunn. 9 beats were made for his group the Wisemen's second album Children Of A Lesser God released in 2010. He released his 2nd solo album in 2011 called School for the Blindman with features from Canibus, Killah Priest, The Wisemen, RZA, Masta Killa, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, La The Darkman & Willie the Kid again to critical acclaim.

Heston Marc Blumenthal, OBE ( /ˈbluːmənθɔːl/; born 27 May 1966 in London, raised in Buckinghamshire) is an English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire which has been voted Best Restaurant in the UK and received a perfect score of 10/10 every year since 2007 by The Good Food Guide. Additionally, it was voted best restaurant in the world in 2005 by Restaurant magazine. Since that date, it was awarded 2nd place in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, 3rd in 2010 and 5th in 2011.

Heston Blumenthal attended the Latymer Upper School in London for one year^{[citation needed]} before transferring to Lacey Green Church of England School until 12.^{[citation needed]} Blumenthal completed his studies at age 18^{[citation needed]} at John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe.

Blumenthal is entirely self-taught. His first paid job as a curry chef was when he opened his own restaurant, The Fat Duck. Prior to this, his only experience in a professional kitchen was a one week long work experience at Marco Pierre White's restaurant and 10 days' unpaid experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen.^{[citation needed]}