Cookbooks: 1970s to the Present: Twinkling Chefs

The boom times of the last quarter of the twentieth century also allowed consumers to leave their kitchens. Eating out became big business. Forsaking their new gadgets, cooks took to trendy restaurants like kittens to catnip. Moving from one glitzy spot to the next, the foodies created a new diversion: eating out as entertainment. With their enthusiasm, they cooked up a new star: the chef.

From New York City to Los Angeles, city diners embraced the new temples of gastronomy. As competition grew between restaurants, their owners and chefs turned to marketing themselves as never before. Every chef of note needed to write a cookbook, as much to keep his or her name in the forefront of the food press as to please loyal customers who wanted to duplicate the recipes at home. Never mind that restaurant cooking is a far cry from home cooking.