On The Menu Bookshelf
What We're Reading...
by Michael Steinberger
France is in a rut, and so is French cuisine. Twenty-five years ago it was hard to have a bad meal in France; now, in some cities and towns, it is a challenge to find a good one. For the first time in the annals of modern cooking, the most influential chefs and the most talked-about restaurants in the world are not French. Within France, large segments of the wine industry are in crisis, cherished artisanal cheeses are threatened with extinction, and bistros and brasseries are disappearing at an alarming rate.
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by Francis Mallmann and Peter Kaminsky
Gloriously inspired recipes push the boundaries of live-fired cuisine in this primal yet sophisticated cookbook introducing the incendiary dishes of South America's biggest culinary star. Chef Francis Mallmann—born in Patagonia and trained in France's top restaurants—abandoned the fussy fine dining scene for the more elemental experience of cooking with fire. But his fans followed, including the world's top food journalists and celebrities, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Madonna, and Ralph Lauren, traveling to Argentina and Uruguay to experience the dashing chef's astonishing—and delicious—wood-fired feats.
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by Jay Rayner
"Nobody goes to restaurants for nutritional reasons. They go for the experience. And what price a really top experience?” What price indeed? Fearlessly, and with great wit and verve, award-winning restaurant critic Jay Rayner goes in search of the perfect meal. From the Tokyo sushi chef who offers a toast of snake-infused liquor to close a spectacular meal, to Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas where Robuchon himself eagerly watches his guest’s every mouthful, to seven three-star Michelin restaurants in seven days in Paris, Rayner conducts a whirlwind tour of high-end gastronomy that will thrill the heart—and stomach—of any armchair gourmand. Along the way, he uses his entrée into the restaurant world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner.
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by Mark Bittman
Presented here are 404 dishes -- 101 for each season -- that will get you in and out of the kitchen in 20 minutes or less. Mark Bittman's recipe sketches provide exactly the directions a home cook needs to prepare a repertoire of eggs, seafood, poultry, meats, vegetables, sandwiches, and even desserts. Add a salad here, a loaf of bread there, and these dishes become full meals that are better than takeout and far less expensive.
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by Ron Douglas
Wouldn't it be nice if you could treat yourself to dishes from your favorite restaurants anytime? Now you can -- at home! In America's Most Wanted Recipes, Ron Douglas reveals copycat versions of carefully guarded secret restaurant recipes and shows family chefs how to prepare them at home, saving time and money. With these easy and mouth-watering recipes, families can enjoy a night out in their very own kitchens.
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by Sarma Melngailis
Picking up where the bestselling Raw Food/Real World left off, Sarma Melngailis invites us inside her glamorous restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, with dozens more recipes for fresh and vibrant juices, shakes, soups, simple dishes, main courses, desserts, and cocktails.
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by Matthew Amster-Burton
Hungry Monkey is the story of Amster-Burton's life as a food-lover--with a child. It's the story of how he came to realize that kids don't need puree in a jar or special menus at restaurants and that raising an adventurous eater is about exposure, invention, and patience. He writes of the highs and lows of teaching your child about food--the high of rediscovering how something tastes for the first time through a child's unflinching reaction, the low of thinking you have a precocious vegetable fiend on your hands only to discover that a child's preferences change from day to day (and may take years to include vegetables again). Sharing in his culinary capers is little Iris, a budding gourmand and a zippy critic herself--who makes hug sandwiches, gobbles up hot chilis, and even helps around the kitchen sometimes.
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by John Schlimm
No publisher's description
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by Michelle Wojtowicz, Phillip Wojtowicz, and Michael Gilson
Tucked behind a gas station off California's legendary Highway 1, the Big Sur Bakery is easy to miss. But don't be fooled by its unassuming location—stumbling across the Bakery, as countless visitors have done on their way up and down the Pacific Coast, will make you feel as if you've discovered a secret: a gem of a restaurant where the food, people, and atmosphere meld together in a perfect embodiment of the spirit of Big Sur. The three restaurant owners, chef Philip Wojtowicz, baker Michelle Wojtowicz, and host Michael Gilson, escaped the Los Angeles food scene to create their version of the ideal restaurant, nestled in the heart of some of the most beautiful country in the world.
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