Restaurant Books

I am a repeat customer of Peoples Choice Guide Cancun and the new 2008 edition is fantastic. There are many helpful improvments, such as you can now search by Food Category and the Proximity Guide where you can quickly locate Restaurants and Clubs close to your Hotel. The locations for the hotels, restaurants and clubs are pinpointed to 1/10 of a km, which makes it far easier than saying "between km 9 and km 10. When you are driving, riding or whatever in a foreign land you don't want to be in busy traffic looking for a km to find a place.

I live in Cancun and even as a resident this book is most helpful. Locals have to eat out too. When I travel I always try to find a Travel Guide before I plan my trip. It would be great if this guide was available for other travel hotspots.

I imagine it is hard to keep any travel guide current, with name changes, business closings, new places, etc. but the author states that he makes frequent trips to Cancun to allow for the most up to date information at the time the guide goes to print. This travel guide is a good as it gets for Cancun.

Well, I've just read the new and improved People's Choice Guide and I have to say that it is a must have for travelers or tourists to Cancun. The guide covers almost everything Cancun from hidden gems to the glitz of the club set.

Unlike other prominent guides, the PCG covers almost every hotel, most restaurants and other points of interests. When I first started going to Cancun some twenty plus years ago, nothing would tick me off more than buying one of the so called major guides and not seeing a resort I was thinking about booking, in it. With the PCG that's not likely to happen and best of all many of the reviews are based on people whom have actually stayed at the Hotels or eaten at the Restaurants, and of course, the author who has managed to track down and keep regular tabs on the Cancun scene. The book is loaded with travel tips, recommendations, and up to date, concise addresses and phone numbers of everything the typical visitor to Cancun may need.

In my opinion, this is the most worthwhile guide to Cancun published and is more extensive than any other guide on the market.

This is definitely the most accurate book out there, as the others don't like Frommers and Fodors don't list every restaurant or hotel. This fantastic book doesn't only list restaurants and hotels, but also clubs, bars, great information about transportation, and many other great things. It is definitely worth a lot more than the price you're getting it for. It's a must have book! I highly recommend this book for both any first timers and even the experienced Cancun traveler.

He was only 5 when his mom started reading this book to him. He loves it so much that they keep renewing it from the bookstore. I thought that for his 6th birthday I would surprise him with his own copy! He is going to be so happy. I just told his mom and she says he going to "die!"

We LOVE the Monica Wellington books. She uses an incredible range of colors, and writes such charming text. We have almost everything she has written for children. This book is fun, especially for people who love pizza. She talks about all the ingredients and gives simple but whimsical illustrations to show how Sally makes her pizza. The cat and dog who figure in most books are also present. The text is simple for younger children (our daughter is a preschooler), and, as always, there are recipes at the back. A nice, simple, colorful read.

Some writer/illustrators can take a good idea and turn it into something a little special. "Pizza at Sally's" might have been a rather formulaic, linear account of pizza making, but Monica Wellington treats us to a superior pizza book. The winning ingredients include a unique artistic style, a clear, engaging story, and a tasty concluding payoff for either the rapacious or the reluctant reader.

The illustrations, "colored copies of photos, labels, and other ephemera" pasted on gouache-prepared paper have a toy-like quality, as if your Lego decals leapt from signs and trains onto the pages.. Coupled the informal font, the look is a relaxed photo realism. The combination is much warmer than most of the computer-generated images I've seen. Photos of Sally's (she's the pizza maker) tomatoes complement shiny drawings of patterned green leaves, and tall background buildings with luminescent colored windowpanes hint at the urban setting. "Sally the pizza maker grows tomatoes in her community garden in the city." This is an exciting setting for non-city kids who have never seen a rooftop garden.

Wellington also skillfully mixes farm scenes with their destination: The neighborhood stores where Sally buys her pizza ingredients. There's a beautiful, atmospheric picture of the cheese shop with giant company labels hanging from the wall, and there's an unexpected lower panel that shows us the cows grazing many miles from the cheese shop interior. It's a bold montage that works extremely well.

At 11:00 AM, Sally--with her ubiquitous cat smiling up at her--begins making pizza! It's homemade of course, "Cut, chop, stir, and simmer. There are good smells in the air. Sally makes her tomato sauce." Yeast, oil, salt, and flour start the pizza dough, and we see a mixture of foods and measuring devices on one 2-page spread. At this point, I began to ponder a very serious question: Does Sally belong to the "through the dough" school of pizza-making, or whether she disdains such dramatics? (These two methods are hotly debated wherever pizza is taken seriously.) Culinary merits aside, I was thrilled to see that Sally twirls the dough--"Whoosh"--up in the air.

Finally, "everything is ready to put together." As she layers the ingredients (the cat with its paws on the counter), Wellington uses some artistic license to bend health code regulations), hungry kids wait with great anticipation. And the verdict? The pizza certainly looks delicious, and you can almost smell it as Sally slides it into the fiery oven. However, Sally's customers are the best judges, and the youngsters grab slices and close their eyes in pizza ecstasy. When the shop closes at 9pm, the chalkboard says "Arrivederci," and Sally and her little feline helper relax and enjoy a slice together. A truly kid-pleasing book might include Sally's pizza recipe as an après-story treat, and, as with the entire book, Ms. Wellington does not disappoint. There's much to savor in this sensational book!

According to Globe Pequot Press, a brand-new, revised and updated edition of "Real Barbecue" will be coming out soon! It will be an all-new edition, with new BBQ joints, new info on the best cookers, new recipes, etc.

It's by the same guys.

According to the publisher's Web site, the release date will be this Sept, 1 (2007). Get your bibs ready.

The best book on barbecue ever written. A labor of love. Staten and Johnson have guided me to great food in many different towns and cities. Find it, study it.

An exceptionally useful and informative book. This is a review of the best barbecue restaurants in the country by two men who set out on a barbecue "quest". Each restaurant chosen is described in both a charming and mouthwatering fashion by men who obviously love barbecue. In the last part of the book they offer outstanding recipes from some of the best BBQ joints as well as information on cooking and putting together your own backyard barbecue. Fun reading if you love to eat and fun eating if you follow their advice. Recommended!!!

I will soon be opening a cafe and have been desperately looking for a book like this. It is a detailed text book covering everything, plus hundreds of "quick bites" that offer tips and examples to help with understanding. I know its a reference that I will go back to over and over.

Although this book is expensive, the quality of its contents justifies the aquisition. It's a comprehensive manual of all the aspects the you must take into account when you are running a restaurant or you wish to start one. Nobody should start a business in this industry without reading books like this.

It's been a year since we opened our restaurant in Chicago without any prior experience in the food industry. Having read this book helped me create and maintain our financial controls and understand our customer expectations. For less than 90 bucks, this book has provided me with invaluable, easy to understand and directly applicable concepts. A must read for anyone starting out in the restaurant business.

You get the sense that Doris Lehman has spent a substantial amount of time in the Riviera and writes from personal experience. This book is very readable and the illustrations, by her daughter, Amy, are delightful. I have never visited the Riviera but, I sometimes like to read travel books so I can vicariously visit certain destinations. I definitely got the vicarious experience from this well written travel guide. She covers a lot of territory and I feel that Lehman's style compares very favorably with larger travel book operations such as Frommer and Foder. In fact, she has a personal touch that makes her book preferable. I highly recommend this book.

The Riviera off-season and on was a very helpful source of information for my vacation to the Riviera. I used it both for hotels and restaurants and was not disappointed once. I loved the boxed in stories and found the illustrations very charming. I recommend this book for anyone going to the Riviera.

Well presented and warmly researched broadly based survey; hand-drawn illustrations are delightful and wonderfully evocative. Perfect volume from which to plan itinerary from home, or to make trip adjustments on the road.

Lamb's story of Sanderson's Lunch is a fascinating journey though emotion, passion, hard work, and fruitless endeavors. To hear Lamb's story is to laugh, cry, and seriously consider getting a job at a 24/hour diner just to have a glimpse of the crazy antics like those at Sanderson's. The reader will cheer with the successes, be crushed at the defeats, and empathize with every emotional state Lamb was in at the time. If you are a KC native, you are doing yourself an injustice to overlook this outstanding work. It is a little piece of history and a small masterpiece of nonfiction

I enjoyed the book but would like to see more articles telling more of the wacky tales of the old 24 hour restaurant, perhaps in a newspaper or KC mag. Maybe there are enough for another book with a bit more emphasis of the unusual parade of customers. (I couldn't resist!)

Art Lamb is my step-grandfather, and I picked up the book out of curiosity and started reading one afternoon. The next thing I knew, night had fallen, dinner was cold, and the kids were conked out in front of the TV. I shrugged and kept on reading. Witty, engaging and fast moving, this slice of life will capture your interest and engage you until the last page.

Having grown up in Michigan, I have many fond memories of Sunday brunches at Schuler's in Marshall, Michigan. Originally opened in 1909, Schuler's is a Michigan fixture that specializes in heavier traditional dishes such as prime rib and London broil. The attached pub, Winston's, features some lighter bar fare such as the classic Schuler's Bar Cheese and barbeque meatballs.

Jonathan Schuler represents the fourth generation of Schulers behind the restaurant. He serves as narrator and guide to the many traditional and updated dishes featured in Schuler's: Fresh Recipes and Warm Memories. Classics such as Schuler's Bar Scheese (vastly superior to the bland supermarket variety; Schuler's sold the recipe to Cambell's Soup in 1982) and barbeque meatballs sit side-by-side with more contemporary offerings such as Goat Cheese Gratin, Savory Pesto Cheesecake, Creamy Sauteed Morel Mushrooms, and Baked Artichoke Hearts with Bread Crumbs and Fresh Herbs.

Sandwiches includes such gems as Roasted Vegetable Panini with Handmade Hummus and Feta Cheese, Schuler's Classic Reuben, and Fresh Basil, Tomato, and Camembert on Grilled Sourdough.

Soups include Schuler's divine Seafood Chowder, Midwest Corn Chowder, Pumpkin Bisque, and Michigan Bean and Vegetable Soup.

From the lakes and oceans, we have the Perfect Crab Cake, Broiled Whitefish with Herbed Butter (a Michigan delicacy), Grilled Salmon with Balsamic Vinegar Roasted Beets, and Hazelnut Crusted Walleye.

There is also a large assortment of meat- and game-based recipes such as Venison Ragout, Venison Loin with a Cherry Cognac Sauce, Prime Rib, Pan-Roasted Duck, and London Broil.

To round out the collection of favorites, there are also numerous recipes for bread, salads, omelettes, pastas, simple and delicious vegetable sides (Roasted Asparagus with Pine Nuts, Cauliflower with Lemon and Herb Butter, alcoholic beverages, and divine desserts, including Schuler's classic Baked Alaska.

The cookbook is beautifully presented, featuring a very informative introduction about Schuler's origins and family ties, changes that the restaurant has undergone across the decades, and numerous photos of the restaurant, including overlays of the many famous literary quotations painted along its walls.

Recipes are clearly presented step-by-step, many with an informative introduction from Jonathan Schuler on preparation and presentation, and the included photographs are mouthwateringly gorgeous. Jonathan's guidance is easy to follow, with no "fancy" equipment or techniques necessary, so this is a perfect cookbook for the beginner as well as the professional. This is a beautiful tribute to a Michigan dining institution, and one that brought back many happy memories of dining at Schuler's over the last twenty years.

I've eaten at the original Schuler's restaurant in Marshall, MI as well as their, now gone but not forgotten, place in Ann Arbor, MI. The food and service have always been exellent, and this cookbook is no exception. The recipes look very "do-able", and i know from experience that the meatballs in BBQ sauce, cheeses, French onion soup and various meats are yummy! I am looking forward to replicating them at home.

Schuler's: Fresh Recipes And Warm Memories is a blend of family traditions, anecdotal memories, and super recipes. In short, the legacy of Chef Jonathan Schuler who was the first to offer his Michigan customers at Schuler's restaurant what became known as a blue plate special. Enhanced with introductory commentary, history, and "Chef's Notes", the recipes are organized into chapters on Stocks, Rubs, and Condiments; Salads; Appetizers and Hors d'Oeuvres; Sandwiches; Soups and Stews; Fish and Seafood; Poultry and Meat; More...; Side Dishes; Drinks; and Desserts. From Schuler's Seasoning Salt; Schuler's Famous Cole Slaw; Pan-Fired Oysters with Spicy Remoulade Sauce; and Prime Rib Sandwich with Sweet Onion Relish and Maytag Blue Cheese; to Schuler's Swiss Onion Soup; Herb-Stuffed Trout with Horseradish Cream Sauce; Grandma Schuler's Cornish Pasties; Schuler's Signature Lasagna; Balsamic Vinegar Roasted Beets with Marjoram; Party Sangria; and Chocolate Bread Pudding with Coffee Liqueur, Schuler's offers a complete and elegant restaurant menu that is as "kitchen cook friendly" as it is palate pleasing and appetite satisfying!

The perfect book for those who love good food and wine. This book is a wonderful blend of exquisite recipes and wine pairings. It is a joint effort of Carolyn Wente of Wente Winery in Livermore, Ca, and Executive chef extraordinare, Kimball Jones. Each contributes thoughts about the pairings of wine and food and there are recipes from both authors. The recipes are reasonable and anyone with even moderate skill should be able to produce wonderful meals. The real joy of this book is that the recipes are arranged by season to take advantage of the best available produce in the area(added bonus, usually found in abundance and at reasonable prices!),in the finest French tradition. This is a sensual cookbook, both visually and in the wealth of food and wine knowledge that allow even the casual cook to prepare and serve gourmet quality food. An absolute must for anyone who loves good food!

Carolyn Wente (a winery president) and Kimball Jones (an executive chef) successfully collaborate in Sharing The Vineyard Table: A Celebration Of Wine And Food From The Wente Vineyards Restaurant to share stories and secrets of vineyard living -- and showcase more than one hundred delicious recipes, enhanced with color photography, wine notes, and sidebar commentaries. From Mascarpone Cheesecake with Biscotti Crust and Balsamic Strawberries; Smoked Trout on Potato Chips with Lemon, Fennel, and Dill; and Watercress Soup; to Wild Mushroom Flatbread with Prosciutto, Arugula, and Truffle Oil; Calzone with Artichokes, Westphalian Ham, Ricotta, and Parmesan; and Corn and Smoked Chicken Chowder with Jalapeno-Cilantro Butter, Sharing The Vineyard Table offers dishes in harmony with the seasons. Each recipes, from appetizers to desserts, is accompanied by simple and concise wine notes suggesting the type of wine that will best complement the dish (and why!). A superbly accomplished addition to any cookbook collection Sharing The Vineyard Table is enriched for the family chef or casual gourmet browser with are sidebars of Wente and Jones' personal refections on the farming life of the vineyard, cooking tips, a detailed index, entries for 36 wine varietals followed by a list of all the recipes suggested for pairing, and a list of mail-order resources.

Carolyn Wente and Kimball Jones have created a masterful book for people who truly love to cook for family and friends. This cookbook sets the new standard for those of us who have cooked for many years, have collected (and divested themselves of) hundreds of cookbooks and who want a sophisticated, yet easy to prepare, palette of seasonal menus. The wine and food pairings are exceptional, the balance of flavors heaven-sent, the cooking instructions are intelligent and conversational -- they really understand the home kitchen. My "audience" has raved and I have a new enthusiasm for cooking that I thought I'd lost. This book is a necessity, not a luxury. A comfort just to read. Thank you, Wente Vineyards.

The Streets & San Man's Guide To Chicago Eats is a no-nonsense guide to the tastiest places in Chicago to grab a bite. Each brief restaurant listing offers a rating for food quality, address and phone number, directions, and a sumptuous summary of the quality of food to be found therein. A selection of coupons good until December 2006 rounds out this useful and handy reference for travelers and Chicago natives alike.

This book is a delight. For anyone visiting Chicago interested in getting the real flavor of the city, this is the book for you. A lot of the restaurants in this book may not make the typical list of Chicago's finest, but that does not mean the food served is not terrific. To the contrary, want hearty, want cheap, want good, you can find it in this book. Want a famous Chicago Beef Sandwich, Pizza, or Breaded Steak Sandwich, you came to the right place. These are the places real Chicagoans eat, and eat well. And, not only are there some incredible places to eat, but there are some great anecdotes as well. Additionally, for the visitor to our great City, there are some side trips listed with captivating points of interest which don't show up in your usual Chicago Guide either.

As a lifelong resident of the City of Chicago, I would also recommend this book for those who live in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs. There are places in this book that many residents have never visited, which is a shame. I have been to some of the restaurants and other points of interest in the book and I look forward to visiting more. I should add the author's reviews of the places I have visited are dead on.

Visiting the restaurants in this book will help visitors and residents alike get to know the City, or get to know it better. And, the coupons in the back of the book don't hurt either. Great City. Great Book. Great Eats.

I just picked up the Streets and San Man's Guide and I read it in one sitting. If you are a Chicagoan, this book is a must. He serves up a bunch of neighborhood eateries (diners, pubs, fast food joints) where the price is right and the grub is good. And what's better than that is the Streets and San Man's tone: the guy is funny as hell. I drove to a few of the detours he provides and they were great. The Big Chief detour was hysterical. I went to one of the eateries the other day for lunch (T's Tap) and it was just like the Streets and San Man said it was. The food was good, cheap, and the people were nice. Foley has a winner here.

Donna Long is amazing. The only thing I would reccomend is to write a book about Wisconsin. I know for a fact the Wisconsin has better places to eat, more hometown charm, and our cheese is better. But Donna Long did an amazing job. I bet she had a lot of fun going all over the state and getting a taste of everything. The stories of the people she met was the best part of the book. A must have for anyone who would like to learn more about food and local town charm.

This book is a must-read for Minnesota natives and tourists alike! Tabbert Long has written a book that honors Minnesota's unique culinary traditions. In so doing, she honors the state's inhabitants. Unlike a travel guide that offers no personal perspective, this book's author both loves and understands the place about which she writes. An added bonus: the book contains delicious recipes from Minnesota restaurants!

Wonderful! Not only has Mrs. Long compiled an exceptional resource of the supremely underrated food-gifts that Minnesota generously offers its denizens and travellers, but she has done so with superb writing and wit. I hope there are many more books on the way from Mrs. Long!