For all lovers of French gastronomy here is an invitation into the kitchens, homes, and markets of 14 renowned French chefs -crowned with 75 favorite recipes. Dinner with a top French chef is an impossible offer to refuse; the chance to follow one into his kitchen and come away with his favorite recipes is a food lover's dream. The chefs range from the Michelin-star general to the unsung hero, and each has much to teach us about their passion for the products of their region, their inspirations, and their personal approach to cooking. Each chef also shares five favorite recipes, unedited, to enable readers to recreate at home the very best of French regional cooking. The candid photographs of the chefs at work and an engaging text offer insights into their signature dishes. Through their stories, we savor the diverse regional flavors and passionate creativity that make French cooking the ultimate culinary benchmark.

Here is perhaps the first book to describe and picture not only the best food in France, but the people who are making it, and to set both against the rich background of French history and culture. We see the chefs at work in their kitchens; in their dining-rooms with the delectable results of their efforts; in their private lives; and emerging into the spotlight of international publicity to promote their artistry.

Unlike any other cookbook, Great Chefs Cook Vegan includes recipes from 25 of today's greatest chefs, including Thomas Keller, Jean-George Vongerichten, Eric Ripert, Charlie Trotter, and many other James Beard award-winning chefs. Each chef section includes a three or four-course vegan meal, complete with mouth-watering photographs of each recipe and much more.

Profiles of thirty-five of Europe's most revered women chefs, with recipes from each.

A respectful yet unvarnished tribute to the greatest chefs in Europe and the United States who over the last two decades have led a revolution unlike any in the history of dining. Knives on the Cutting Edge is a culinary pilgrimage that examines the several current and important megatrends such as the rise of celebrity chefs, the healthy eating movement, and the growing emergence of bolder flavors in gourmet foods. Through visits to many of the world's greatest restaurants, Bob Macdonald provides anecdotes, personal insights, and memories that demystify the dining experience and make ordering wine at a restaurant an enjoyable hobby rather than a formidable ordeal.

An evocative, gorgeous four-season look at cooking in Maine, with 100 recipes No one can bring small-town America to life better than a native. Erin French grew up in Freedom, Maine (population 719), helping her father at the griddle in his diner. An entirely self-taught cook who used cookbooks to form her culinary education, she now helms her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen, in a historic mill in the same town, creating meals that draw locals and visitors from around the world to a dining room that feels like an extension of her home kitchen. The food has been called “brilliant in its simplicity and honesty” by Food & Wine, and it is exactly this pure approach that makes Erin’s cooking so appealing—and so easy to embrace at home. This stunning giftable package features a vellum jacket over a printed cover.

An unforgettable portrait of France’s legendary chef, and the sophisticated, unforgiving world of French gastronomy Bernard Loiseau was one of only twenty-five French chefs to hold Europe’s highest culinary award, three stars in the Michelin Red Guide, and only the second chef to be personally awarded the Legion of Honor by a head of state. Despite such triumphs, he shocked the culinary world by taking his own life in February 2003. TheGaultMillau guidebook had recently dropped its ratings of Loiseau’s restaurant, and rumors swirled that he was on the verge of losing a Michelin star (a prediction that proved to be inaccurate). Journalist Rudolph Chelminski, who befriended Loiseau three decades ago and followed his rise to the pinnacle of French restaurateurs, now gives us a rare tour of this hallowed culinary realm. The Perfectionist is the story of a daydreaming teenager who worked his way up from complete obscurity to owning three famous restaurants in Paris and rebuilding La Côte d’Or, transforming a century-old inn and restaurant that had lost all of its Michelin stars into a luxurious destination restaurant and hotel. He started a line of culinary products with his name on them, appeared regularly on television and in the press, and had a beautiful, intelligent wife and three young children he adored—Bernard Loiseau seemed to have it all. An unvarnished glimpse inside an echelon filled with competition, culture wars, and impossibly high standards, The Perfectionist vividly depicts a man whose energy and enthusiasm won the hearts of staff and clientele, while self-doubt and cut-throat critics took their toll.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Julia's story of her transformative years in France in her own words is "captivating ... her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page.” (San Francisco Chronicle). Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, Julia Child was not always a master chef. Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, who was to work for the USIS, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. Julia’s unforgettable story—struggles with the head of the Cordon Bleu, rejections from publishers to whom she sent her now-famous cookbook, a wonderful, nearly fifty-year long marriage that took the Childs across the globe—unfolds with the spirit so key to Julia’s success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of America’s most endearing personalities.