Lisa Q. Fetterman

I'd never encountered a book for Asian desserts before and I loved Kyotofu in New York. This is the only way now to eat their desserts now that I'm on the West Coast. The recipes are easy but the flavors are complex.

This book is a great start to get cooking Italian in any kitchen. It demystifies all things Italian and has a funny and smart voice. It is utterly destroyed in my home.

There is Japanese food that exists outside of izakaya, ramen, and sushi. The everyday exquisiteness of savoring great ingredients, the expression of comfort and love in cooking styles.

The aesthetics of this book make it epic like a bible. It tells you so much about each vegetable and then gives you a recipe much in the style of MFK Fisher. The recipes aren't just listed procedure or quantities, it's a story about how you cook the vegetable.

This is bread porn. And chill. It's so relaxing to leaf through this book. AND the cover is soft like bread, they crazy for this one. You can teach yourself to bake bread from NOTHING with this book.

One recipe requires a step that's a month long. This is definitely an aspirational book and totally transforms the way you think about your approach to food.

An iconic book that in many ways is the quintessential fine dining restaurant book. Nothing that came before comes close to matching the way it truly encapsulates the spirit and ethos of a great restaurant at the height of its powers. Aside from being hugely influential on all restaurant books since, it features a parable in which Thomas Keller murdalizes a bunny rabbit, which is basically the best, weirdest thing ever.

Amazingly enjoyable and infinitely readable about the process of a visionary. They know there's no way you can cook from their cookbooks, but you'll become a better cook and creative person in general by going into the mind of this chef.