Restaurant Books

I ordered this book because I loved the first edition so much and I needed updated information on the restaurants. When I received it, I tossed my first edition. That was a mistake. This new book doesn't have as many of the classics, it doesn't have a list of late-night and all-night places, and its writers are trying to be hip in the places they review at the expense of practicality. I hope they go back to their roots on the 4th edition. Until then, buy a used copy of the first edition.

If you live in L.A. or are going to visit this is a must have guide.

I picked up this book after the color caught my eye, and it has come in handy much more than expected! It's got some great places that I would never have found on my own. The reviews give all the info you'd need before deciding on a place to eat, and although it doesnt cover EVERY restaurant in the city like Zagat, it gives good suggestions for every neighborhood. I highly reccommend it.

I love LA and I love these books. They're quirky, fun, and really really honest. I couldn't wait for the new edition to come out and was just about to eamil the publishers when I saw that this came out. Since I am (or try to be) a vegetarian, this book's the best yet because it has a huge selection of veggie friendly/vegan places. It also seems like they expanded their coverage of the beaches and westerly areas.

I loved the earlier editions of this food guide when I lived in the city, but now that I'm down at the beach, the older versions just didn't cut it--so I e-mailed the editors and the listened. The new Hungry?, which I just picked up today, has a TON of listings for the beaches, south bay and Torrance area which, unfortunately, I now must frequent. This book is a total must if you live in LA--forget the other guides!

This book is well done. There are many beautiful pictures through the book. The receipes are absoutely yummie and easy to follow and prepare. It also contains side dishes and deserts.

I have had this cookbook for many years. I had a dinner party and my Aunt loved the pasta dish, so I am ordering her a copy (I hope I can now get my copy back from her)
You'll love the the tuni recipe.

Anyone who has eaten out much in Portland or Seattle knows about the McCormick and Schmick chain of restaurants. Jake's, their flagship restaurant, is a longstanding Portland tradition. This small, beautifully illustrated cookbook presents some of their chefs' favorite recipes.

The emphasis in the recipes, as in the actual restaurant, is on freshness and on locally available ingredients. There is an innovative flair to many of the recipes, although the classics are here as well. There are probably more recipes for shellfish than for fish proper. The dishes range from appetizers, soups and salads through pastas and entrees. There are even some dessert recipes to finish off the meal. Three Berry Cobler anyone?

In terms of actual recipes, I will admit to having eaten more of the dishes in the restaurant than to having cooked them myself. A couple of the recipes I tried didn't turn out as well as I thought they would, although that may be my fault for "adapting" them a bit. Nonetheless, several of my favorite fish recipes come from this book: the Sole Parmesan (a little tricky to do right, but worth it) and the Orange Roughy with Candied Kiwi-Ginger sauce (works well with salmon) are keepers.

The only true warning I would give for using this book is that it's not for the cholesterol-challenged. Many of the recipes are rich in butter and cream--maybe that's what makes them so good.

It is difficult to appreciate with words, the overarching quality and class of Jake's establishment's in Portland.
Having been to both, I cannot say enough. Orange roughy,
so memorable that now, 6 years later, I can remember this particular dish. Anyhow, I've made the chowder from this cookbook, back when I was in Portland, and it was so fantastic that the we all concluded it was one of the finest dishes the palate could behold. Just unbelievable texture and flavor.
Does anyone know the recipe for their chocolate torte cake?
I don't believe they'll ever let that one out into the public domain, for the entire world would well go mad with joy.
Perhaps we could use a bit of this just now. Buy the book!!

This is a great cookbook for the fish lover. I have had it for about 2 years and have tried almost 20 of the recipes-- all turned out very well. This book has taken the famous recipes of the McCormick and Schmick(?) restaurants and simplified them slightly. Many of the recipes can be done in 15 minutes or less and without alot of exotic ingredients!

You will enjoy & learn a lot from this book. One of the most pleasurable experiences I've ever had in Thailand is eating the food. There is such a wide variety food you can eat in Thailand. As you begin to fall in love with this cuisine, you will want to eat new and more varied dishes. Ordering can be challenging as you evolve into more advanced Thai foods. Yes, you can point and gesture, but if you want to more fully enjoy the culinary delights of real Thai food, you need to know what it's called, and say how you want it cooked or mixed to your spice preferences. There is a lot of important etiquette tips, that will help you if you're invited to eat in a home of a family in a village, or with associates in the city. The regional, colloquial, and relevant slang is included. This means, the author has been there and done it, having lived in Thailand for for the most of 25 years, along with superb homework & research. The photographer, Jerry Alexander helps the reader identify visually with some of the foods that are described. The dictionary at the end included many useful phrases in addition to the food vocabulary. One error though, is that the letter "G" in Thai is listed as a "K" which is only the case when it is a stop final, at the end of a word, or syllable cluster. Read, learn, eat, and enjoy.

I went out on a limb and picked this little treasure up with out even looking at any of the recipies. Glad I did. I spent years as a cook and found that most ethnic dishes are a product of the environment and what the people have at their disposal. And that most methods of cooking are the same with just different spices. These cook books have picked up on that and give you the basics. Every Thai Grandma has her own special recipie for curry but the core recipies are all here. Along with, and this is why I'm so impressed with these books, a history of the culture and it's evolution, common customes at the dinner table, how to shop in the markets, what to order when and where, a great map of the country specifying each regions specialties and (these guy's are great) a little dictionary of the Thai language and their pronunciations. These books would not only make a great gift but a perfect addition to a collection of cook books. I only wanted to buy one Thai cook book and I'm glad I found this one first. It's got evey thing you need to learn and creat great Thai food.

I thought I was an expert on Thai food as I have been living in Thailand for 6 years. However, Joe's easy to read book taught me many a new thing. This is not your average cook book. It is really a cross between a travel guide and a recipe book with a sprinkling of cultural information. I would say that it is the definitive book on eating Thai food - whether that be in Thailand or abroad. Highly recommended for anyone who has visited Thailand and has fallen in love with the food or the armchair traveler who is eating Thai food at home.

I bought this book thinking it was just a cookbook, and was surprised to find much more. Eating is an essential part of life in Thailand, and Joe Cummings gives deep insight into Thai culture -- specifically how "being Thai" comes out in the preparation and enjoyment of food.

If you're buying the LP guide to Thailand and are going there for the first time, also buy this book. You'll get a much more in depth description of the Thai way of life, as well manners & etiquette for a foreigner. And you'll want the recipes when you return!!

The Lonely Planet Guides are justly regarded as bibles by backpackers the world over. They are exhaustively researched and very reliable. I backpacked through Thailand last year and relied heavily on Joe Cummings brilliant LP guide for advice, inspiration and tips on what to eat. When I heard that Joe Cummings had written the LP World Food Guide to Thailand I knew it would be as meticulously researched and filled with the same infectious enthusiasm as his guide to the country itself. I was not disappointed. Though this is not the only Thai cookbook you will ever need - there are only twenty or so recipes - the book rightly sets Thai cuisine in its rich context, building the case that Thai food - real Thai food - is one of the world's most exciting cuisines. The story of Thai food - it's distinctive ingredients, the way it is eaten by Thais, the many regional variations, how to shop for Thai ingredients, street food, etc - is studded with relevant recipes made all the more appealing by what you have just learned. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.

This book is a masterpiece. I hope he rewrite his book and add pictures into the book. Good story and lots of classic recipes. Sometimes, I wish he has not retired yet & keep his restaurant opened.

This is one of the best and most useful cookbooks by a great chef that you are likely to find. Too often such books aren't suited for the home cook and are more about ego than food. That is definitely not the case here. Andre Soltner was the owner and chef of the renowed Lutece, a New York institution, for three decades. In this book he shares some of the history of the great restaurant as well as his Alastian heritage. The focus of the book, however, is the food. Significantly, Soltner recognizes that he is writing for the home cook. He thoughtfully provides tips on how to find ingredients or acceptable substitutes for those of us who don't have access to an exotic wholesaler and suggests the best kinds of kitchen accessories to use. It is obvious that Soltner cooks these recipes in his own home. You don't need a first class professional kitchen to enjoy these recipes. Also, the recipes are designed for suitable portion sizes; these aren't recipes to feed a crowd that have been shrunk to fit the cookbook. Just because this book is practical, however, doesn't mean that it doesn't focus on the most sophisticated kind of food. There is plenty of classical French cooking in this book, but it all seems like something you can accomplish in your own kitchen. There are plenty of things in here that you won't want to cook - there's an abundance of organ meats - but you will thoroughly enjoy anything that you do prepare. This is a great addition to any kitchen library.

If, like me, your idea of culinary hell is quinoa blini with kimchee "tartare", wasabi sorbet in a pesto tuile, and a two-inch stick of "roasted" tuna on an acre of herb sprigs, then this is the cookbook for you. Soltner's recipes appear remarkable today, since they are both delicious and totally unpretentious, almost simple. These recipes are classically French, from the Alsace region, and despite the fact that they were regulars in one of the world's greatest restaurants, many are also easy to prepare. There is neither fusion nor fussiness in this food, just respect for good ingredients and some tried and true techniques. You don't need to be a highly experienced or highly equipped amateur to try many of these; all you need is a bit of patience and a good appetite. Try the mushroom-Gruyere salad or the grilled trout. Of course there are some very sophisticated and difficult dishes as well. I never ate at Lutece and probably neither did you, but at least all our favorite entertainers did. So if you like true French food and would rather beat eggs than fend off paparazzi, you should buy this book.

After graduating from college I started to cook for myself, primarily so I could eat a healthier diet. Two-odd years and many barely edible messes later, I find myself starting to develop a cook's intuition: what brand names provide better ingredients, what substances are NOT adequate substitutes (the cliche being baking powder vs. soda), when proportions are balanced, how much time recipes take, and so on.

When I picked this book up after failing to find Bourdain's "Les Halles" cookbook in the library, I wasn't expecting anything special. Later on I took the time to flip through most of it and was intrigued. Finally I tried the Rhubarb Tart recipe and BAM! -- I was amazed. As other reviewers have mentioned, Soltner has an unerring sense of harmony, and most of his recipes call for (relatively) basic ingredients.

After reading the book in depth and trying a few more recipes, I felt in awe. This was clearly the best cookbook I had ever come across, beating out even Marcella Hazan's "Essential Italian". To name several of many reasons:

1) Soltner started cooking before my dad was born, and clearly maintains a respect for the terrines, quenelles, and mousses that characterize classic French cooking. But as he admits he adapted the best parts of food trends throughout the years, and even includes some childhood favorites and regional specialties from his boyhood in Alsace. (Incidentally, Alsace seems to have produced more than its share of world-class cooks...) So you are as likely to find a recipe for inventive pike sausages or Alsatian potato pie as something with sole or truffles.

2) The recipes are clearly chosen for the home cook. There are complicated recipes, to be sure, but without the showy intricacy common in Thomas Keller's recipes or, say, the "Babbo" cookbook, where long and careful preparation leads to just one small dish. Every recipe offers plenty of "bang for the buck".

3) The introductory material is fascinating. It includes a description of the trademark atmosphere of Lutece, a "day in the life of" recorded before Soltner retired, some musings from Soltner himself, and a concise but thorough discussion of the most common ingredients and techniques. Through it all you get a sense of the warmth and hospitality that characterizes Soltner both as a cook and as a person. And the wry, lighthearted comments continue throughout for most recipes.

A few final words of praise. The presentation of the book is nigh-perfect. Large enough to be readable, small enough to contain a slew of recipes covering the main categories of French cuisine. The directions are precise, the ingredients proportions correct, no glossy images take up space but there are occasional hand-drawings.

Getting back to my own experience, I don't think that I could have fully appreciated "Lutece" a year ago. Every single recipe is worth making. And what's more, Soltner has this remarkable way of pointing out the subtle, yet important, details for each recipe (for example the exact butterfat content necessary in chocolate for the Chocolate Tart). Yet he is not too fussy, often suggesting adequate substitutes for more rare or expensive ingredients such as morels. Use this book, eat well, and become a better cook.

Mr. Soltner, my deepest respect to you for your marvelous work, both in the kitchen and in print. And Mr. Britchky, my heartfelt thanks for convincing Mr. Soltner to produce this book. I would be minus a culinary gem without it.

The collaboration between Britchkey and Soltner is a long one and began when the former became a food critic at large. He continually gave Lutece the highest award year after year for the very reasons found in this book: No fancy dancy, inside out topsy turvey "presentation", no exotic mixing of Indian and Southern cooking, no "tricks". What he admired was the sheer artistry behind the dish, the always fresh ingredients, the simple yet complete recipes that harken back to the chef's days as a boy in France and in particular, the Alsace region.

Many of these offerings are peculiarly French with ingredients that may not be common to average American cooks. Yet almost all can be prepared at home with a little bit of time and effort. This is NOT food for the diet crowd although Soltner's use of creams and butters and oils is entirely reasonable and serves to accentuate rather than hide flavors. Particularly appealing are the many stories of his childhood and early cooking days that are shared throughout the book.

If anyone needs to know why New York is a world class city, they won't find a better explanation than this brief but amusing and highly enlightening story about opening and running a restaurant.

Meatballs? Anyone can cook meatballs. But, a meatball of veal, beef and pork with some onion, parsley, basil, Parmiagiano-Reggiano cheese, oregano and basic tomato sauce is something else. LaFemina grew up believing meatballs were the most special treat in the world; when he decided to open a restaurant, he discovered how much he didn't know. Fortunately, he includes his recipe for meatballs baked in a wood-fired oven. They're served without pasta.

In addition, he needed to learn about creating a restaurant.

For example, he had to deal with a telephone booth that appeared outside his new restaurant at some time between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. He removed it with a jackhammer, and was promptly visited by a tall forty-something guy in a dark suit who said he "obviously didn't know who he was 'with' or who the officers of his company were." LaFemina, a native of Canarsie, told the tall guy "to have his CEO call my CEO and while he was at it, ask around and find out who I'm with."

"Who are you with?" his wife asked him, having watched the encounter. LaFemina replied, "You."

It's the pure New York of legend. The phone booth didn't come back, neither did the tall guy in the dark suit. But, many of New York's elite do dine at 'Apizz' and recommend it to others of the rich and powerful. How does a guy with a high school degree become one of the top Italian chefs in the city? It takes hard work, some luck, determination, a sense of humour and sheer nerve.

Perhaps the key element is expressed in his reaction on opening night, which " . . . wasn't terrible. The whole thing felt fine to me, but not great. And I knew I wouldn't survive on 'fine'. Not in New York."

"Fine" isn't good in New York. It's why the city is great. To be great in New York, one must be great. In today's world, when so much is defined by the intensity and meanness of pure anger, LaFemina uses sparkling humour to explain how he created a truly great restaurant.

He's the ultimate "practical" hands-on common sense man, which in my experience reflects the pure heart of New York attitudes. LaFemina doesn't explain spread sheets and sales projections and pie charts, he counts the number of meatballs he must serve to cover expenses.

It's this common sense approach, told with relevant humour, that makes this book a delight. Anyone who's ever gone to a good restaurant will love knowing some of the inner thinking that makes it a success.

Plus, the 75 recipes are interesting.

Most chef's autobiographies document an early interest in the field, but A Man & His Meatballs differs radically, telling of a successful New York City jeweler who changed careers in his mid-thirties to become a notable big city chef the hard way - by buying his own restaurant and then learning how to cook. One would anticipate this a recipe for failure: but three successful restaurants later John LaFemina has proved them wrong, and here charts his ups, downs, and elements of luck which have made his establishments quite successful. The addition of recipes makes for more than another chef's autobiography and will appeal to a wide audience of general-interest readers and lending library patrons.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I haven't even purchased the book yet, and my mouth is watering thinking of preparing John's awesome recipes in my own home!

John LeFemina is a most awesome chef, business owner & one of the most stand-up guys I've ever known.

If you want to read about making great food from a self-made success who came up from the streets of Canarsie, Brooklyn, then get this book!

On a sidenote, I only eat glatt kosher these days, and I see that most of the recipes are either dairy & vegetarian.
So that means, all the kosher & veggie readers out there, GET THIS BOOK, too!

If John makes it, it's awesome!

...except for the fact that I picked this book up, fully intending to buy, when I discovered a blurb from Rachael Ray on the back. This is a book supposedly marketed to foodies, and they put HER on the cover???
In case you think this is pure sexist drivel, my wife was with me and concurred wholeheartedly. We're not sexist, but we ARE snobs. No apologies.
What I read of the book was just fine. Hopefully the next edition will be Ray-free.

The is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wanted to own a restaurant. The first half of the book is compelling and funny, and gives a lot of insight into what it takes to open a restaurant in NYC. I couldn't put it down!

The other day my mother-in-law sent me this book as a gift. It's apple season in the Catskills, and I headed for our favorite local orchard to try Mary Jo's recipe for apple crumble. I couldn't believe how easy her recipe (on pages 206 and 207) was to prepare. Although I couldn't buy Jonathans, I used some McIntosh apples that were just fine. The results were so delicious that I'm seriously contemplating inviting my mother-in-law over to the house for what she calls "apple pie and coffee." My husband is usually sort of indifferent to my cooking, but he gobbled up Mary Jo's apple crumble like there's no tomorrow. Her other recipes look as user-friendly as Mary Jo's stories about her restaurant are fascinating. Actually, I couldn't put the book down!

I highly recommend this book for accomplished chefs and kitchen klutzes alike!

Who reads a cookbook? This one makes you feel like a good friend of the author. Receipes are very well explained and not as complicated as you first think.

Mario Batali, Charlie Trotter, Gordon Ramsey. Terrific chefs. Lousy cookbook writers.

Mary Jo, on behalf of this downtrodden cookbook reader, I'd like to thank you. Goodbye esoteric ingredients, inscrutable techniques and expensive equipment. Out with my chinois and in with your soulful, easy-to-follow recipes.

While I'm tossing things out, no more store bought yogurt for me when Mary Jo's "couldn't be simpler" recipe (p. 21) is a revelation. Hellmann's? Never again, with "a small quantity of mayonnaise (p. 33) only seconds away by hand.

Then there are those sublime soups and salads. And I've just started on the breads and dinner mains. I can hardly wait!

I've only had Mary Jo's Cuisine for a month and it's already dog-eared and sauce-stained...the highest compliment I can pay any cookbook.

What a wonderful addition to my kitchen!! Not only does this book elegantly guide you through making homemade rustic meals, but it also encourages the chef. As a mother, I find I can rely on Mary Jo's true to form recipes. As someone who wants to try to grow the expanse of food offerings for her family, this book is a true treasure. I want to encourage those who might shy away from the lost art of do-it-yourself meals, to give this book a try. To be able to offer my ever growing family a homemade meal that wasn't constructed from a box, can or takeout delivery is a true blessing!

whenever i try to follow cookbook recipes, i find that i spend most of my time trying to understand the instructions and it's a very frustrating experience for me.

the recipes i've tried in Mary Jo's cookbook were simple, easy to follow, and straightforward. i feel like i could read them and really understand how to put the words / instructions into action in my simple little kitchen.

for example, i've never made soup, but i tried the asparagus soup and i was a bit intimidated because it sounds like "restaurant food" but i did it! and it was creamy (without a lot of fat grams) and delicious. Mary Jo says that many of her customers would ask if her soups were "cream based" becuase they are so rich and creamy -- but they are not! when you puree the ingredients you get this nice velvet-like, rich texture and it's very healthy!

so i encourage you to try it!

Born in San Francisco and still live nearby. Have found this a useful book for friends and travelers looking for a compact map of the city and reliable info on places to go, where to stay or places to eat. Like the format with a map of the neighborhoods, which makes the book very convenient when walking or driving and trying to find where to go. Descriptions are short accurate and helpful. I like the size and the format for oraganizing information that is used, and the typeface in the book makes it very readable. I carry one in my car for times when visit the city.

I have to say that this book is just cool. I just got back from my first visit to San Francisco, and I am so glad I had this guide with me. The fold out maps are very clear and helpful. Even though the book is small, it hits all the highlights. I visited several shops and restaurants listed in the back, and I was never disappointed.

I've lived in San Francisco for five years, but I still get lost when exploring a new neighborhood. The comprehensive pull-out maps found in Moon Metro are so detailed, that they even include those hard-to-find alleyways and cul-de-sacs. I had friends in from out of town last weekend, and I let them use my copy. They loved it! I definitely recommend this series.

I agree that what makes them cool is the foldout maps. The book is also pretty small. I've lived in the Bay Area all my life but still manage sometimes to get lost while hanging out in the city. I can put this in my coat pocket before I step out and not worry about looking clueless in front of my out-of-town friends. For people who are just visiting, I liked their selection of shops and places to eat. They didn't just list the usual tourist traps. And the color photos inside were pretty nifty, they could be postcards!

If only this book had been around when I moved to San Francisco two years ago! It's awesome. I got it as a gift and figured I knew my way around well enough that I would never use it, but I took it out one night and it's been in my purse ever since. I had out of town guests recently and they took it with them one day while I was at work. They came back raving about how easy it was to get around the city with the guide and how many great shops they found with it. Now every time I go out, I check the book first to pick a restaurant or bar.

Author of a number of histories of literary Paris, as well as a study of Europe's "literary cafés," Noël Riley Fitch now does the trend of Americans writing about their favorite Parisian neighborhood one better by giving us a warm and charming portrait of her favorite Parisian café, Montparnasse's Le Sélect. Accompanied by wonderful illustrations (or, as the cover says, just "drawings") by Rick Tulka, this short book is an experience to savor, much like a trip to the café itself would be.

I've read a number of books over the last few months about Paris cafés, as my vicarious substitute for actually being in one. There's a great variety of such books, all trying in their own way to capture some of the ineffable (and perhaps exaggerated?) romantic charm of Parisian café-dom. Some are glossy photo albums, portraying cafés, brasseries, and restaurants in all their visual diversity. Others focus on the history of various cafés and their neighborhoods, while still others give us recipes designed to recreate café flavors and smells in our own homes. But "Paris Café: The Sélect Crowd" is the first such book I've seen that really takes a close, personal look at an author's own chosen café (in this case, one she shares with her illustrator). I found it a remarkably successful effort, and I feel like were I to visit Le Sélect someday, it wouldn't feel entirely foreign to me.

If I could improve anything, I might wish for more discussion of the people depicted in Tulka's evocative portraits, though there may not have been a way to do that while still respecting their privacy -- Le Sélect is, after all, a neighborhood institution. I also didn't particularly care for the odd covers and binding Soft Skull Press chose to clad this thing in: the cover is uniformly a quarter-inch wider than the pages inside, which made this somewhat awkward to hold. Besides that one wish and one complaint, however, this short book was a fine way to spend a few hours. I hope other authors rise to the challenge and produce similar looks at their own chosen café haunts.

When I learned my cousin had illustrated a book written on a Paris Cafe, Le Select, I thought, "How nice. I'll have to get a couple copies to take with me so I can get his autograph!" I really didn't intend, necessarily, to read it...
Well I got the book and started flipping through and then was just lured right in and read the whole thing in a rather brief period and enjoyed every minute! What a pleasant and illuminating book! And the illustrations are out of this world! To be expected from this seasoned MAD caricaturist.
Whether or not you are going to Paris, this is a must read if you, not only love Paris and, but also want to get a true understanding of the significance of the Paris Cafe!

Fitch's etched words and Tulka's loving illustrations provide a no-hassle jet to Paris and one of its treasures. This is an account to be sipped, savored and saved. Le Select's bracing aroma and eye-pleasing sights permeate every page of the francophiles' extended love letter.

Those who've roosted there over a cup of coffee or tingled after a wine will re-experience their warm pleasure; those who've yet to make it to Le Select will find a delicious foretaste of Paris at its best.

A votre sante!

Worth buying for the elegant b/w drawings alone. Tulka's caricatures magnificently capture the essence of every individual depicted... as you look at each page you feel that you are actually sitting with him observing the staff and patrons. A great book for artists, people-watchers and Francophiles.

The moment you open PARIS CAFES, you're transported to one of the most prestigious and traditional cafes in all Paris. Le Select is unchanged and unadulterated, still serving the same food by the same waiters and run by the same owner.
Turning the pages generates that special "je ne sait quoi" ambience that we all think of as Paris.
And Rick Tulka's drawings capture the subtle Parisien look, the Parisien style and humor impossible to experience in any other city in the world. Cafes exist everywhere, but none of them feels quite like sitting in a cafe in Paris. That's the special fun of reading PARIS CAFES.

love this book so much that i'm taking a trip to the restaurant!this book is beautiful in it's simplicity and every recipe is easily doable,with delicious results.the rice bowls are inspirational.this is a beautifully photographed book with high quality printing.i love this cook book, and i'm sure i will love the restaurant as well.

As a vegan of several years and an avid cook, I feel safe in saying that I own the majority of the vegan cookbooks out there. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found this gem at my local Borders - a cookbook that I had not only never heard of but that also featured beautiful photographs and healthy recipes. I will admit, I was wary when deciding whether or not to purchase it because more than half of the book is full of recipes for different juice concoctions, and I'm not a big juicer.

I am so glad I bought this book.

The recipes are relatively simple and make you feel great - they are jam packed full of fresh veggies, grains, nuts, and seeds. I made the Green Goddess Rice Bowl, expecting it to be your average, run of the mill, boring brown rice topped with steamed greens, but MY GOD! The tahini sauce on the rice played beautifully with the "Simple Sauce", which was drizzled over the steamed bok choy, kale, broccoli, and chard; the sunflower seeds added a hint of crunch, and the pickled ginger gave it just the right amount of sweetness. The Singer's Saving Grace Juice is also amazing, and my best friend - a singer - swears by it. I am so glad that I bought this book, it is easily one of the best I have ever encountered.

I've eaten at Fresh a few times, and was a bit skeptical about this book - thinking it was probably just promo and that I wouldn't be able to recreate their food.

I was wrong, and am so glad I bought this book! This is the best vegetarian cookbook I've ever used. I am a novice cook, so recipes that are easy to follow (no assumptions) and that are actually tested are important. With a few exceptions (for example, what quantity of dried soba noodles makes 8 cups cooked?), I haven't been disappointed.

I started off making the veggie broth - when you have 10 cups of fresh broth, you start looking for things to use it in! My favourites from the soups section are Sweet Potato and Coconut, Tuscan White Bean with Pesto, and the Marrakesh Curried Stew.

I bought some soba noodles recently and decided to try the Khao San Soba noodle recipe - it is easy and fabulous! We've also made the Buddha Rice Bowl, Marinated Tofu Cubes (these keep well in the fridge and can be used in a variety of recipes). The Thai Peanut Sauce makes a lot, but thankfully I found some other recipes on the internet to use it with (Chinese Peanut Salad).

The main drawback is that I loved the first few recipes I made so much that I wanted to keep making them and didn't explore the book further. While not everything I've made is a favourite, I have been diving into the book more, and I'm really enjoying what I'm discovering.

Don't be put off by this book if you aren't vegan - you will not notice or miss the absence of eggs or dairy products in these recipes. If you're a vegetarian wanting to go that extra step towards a vegan diet, this is a great jumpstart!

Fantastic! Thank you, Ruth Tal.

"Refresh" is a fresh twist on vegan cooking. Being in a rural location some of the ingredients are a bit hard to find, but other than that this cookbook is fantastic! Recipes are easy to follow and this book includes numerous photographs of many of its colorful dishes. The Coconut Tempeh was super simple to make and extremely flavorful, but best of all it had the perfect texture. The most difficult thing about this book is having to choose just a few recipes at a time to make. It says a lot that this is my Husband's favorite cookbook and he is NOT even vegan (but he is an incredible cook!) A must have for vegan entertaining!

There are quite a few curry recipes and a curried tempeh with coconut that's delicious and relatively easy. I baked mine instead of frying and it came out great.

The book hasn't been used yet for our group discussion at work, but I've looked through it and I'm excited about the book. Its easy to read and understand.

It provided me with the guidelines I was searching for. I needed a model for structure.

I used this book to teach financial management of restaurantes to pupils in a culinary school. It was very usefull and I highly recommend it, especially the chapter where you find the different forms of calculating the price of a dish.

I am an accountant and this books gives me great ideas to share with my restaurant clients

This is an excellent book that must be a part of your business library. As essential as any cookbook