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I went back to check both EMP books, to remember what's inside and how they are 🙂 While enjoying past visits to the restaurant, i cannot say i really connected to the books or open them much, seems like others bring more inspiration. If you are ok with a books in French or German and translating/googling(like i do..), Franzosische Kuche is the german version of Yannick Alleno's gigantically sized book, French version very hard to find and super expensive today, no English version i think. It has almost 900 pages and probably close to that number of recipes and condiments, can keep you busy for 20 years i think 🙂 It is very nice but i didn't have the time yet to put hard work and cook with.. Other 2 great books that i really enjoy currently, mainly for reading and inspiration, both have plenty of interesting recipes to work on - La Reserve Paris by the great Jerome Banctel, very clever cooking, doable recipes, plus some very good ice cream/sorbets recipes which is always a plus for me. The other book with a lot of interesting recipes - The Restaurant by Heiko Nieder, very nice "reading" and viewing till now. First one in French, secong in German, no English versions unfortunately. In English ? Alinea is another very heavy book with tons of ideas and combinations, a marvel of a book for the relatively early year it was published, i like it a lot. I like having Manresa but i cannot say it is on my high favorites list that i open frequently, but it is a very nice book, layout and pictures etc., i think some of the ingredients are more "local" and harder for me to find, but didn't open it for ages. Some great british chef books out there - Pollen street social by Jason Atherton is in my top 5-10 list, special book but it might seem just a bit "less modern" from others mentioned, but i think it is a fantastically made book. If you want to expand your home cooking towards ultra modern fusion/Japanese by non Japanese chefs - Sepia by Australian Martin benn is unbelievable for the genre, and Bau.Steine by the great German chef Christian Bau is very nice too.. Not a big admirer of Keller and Heston books, but worth checking, maybe it will suit you 🙂

Actually just checked it now and it's for sure not a "must" book, one part 100% history and vision, other part cooking of several younger chefs that probably trained under him or recreate his classics(?), didn't get it yet.. In the German category i totally love till now Flora that i mentioned, by Nils Henkel, very intelligent cooking and combinations, vegetarian.. Just need more time to make better use and develop inspiration from it etc..

For the chef books collectors, if someone interested, Amazon IT is listing lately interstingly priced used copies of master chef Eckart Witzigman's insanly, truly insanly heavy two parts life long summerizing book, mine got in actually new condiiton, maybe returned items when people realized the storage area needed for it.. Anyways, in German, did not open it yet, might take several years to review.. For the price and especially shipping, i'm most thankful for the transport services that handled it, i salut you guys..

Wanted Flora by Nils Henkel for some time, found used in ok condition, still quite pricy maybe possible to find better in the future.. Vegetarian modern "michelin style" in German that looks promising and interesting but will have a better clue later after reading and a lot of translating.. Quite a lot of interesting modern chef books in German only, published in recent years, hope to find some of them in nicer prices later..

Bday present arrived 🙂 Hope to open them and check someday soon

For some reason, those two Israeli books are selling for a ridiculous price (was 3$ when i ordered), price is still very low on Amazon, for those interested.

I wish i bought in the past Alleno's French cooking big book when price was nicer.. I'm really impressed with Banctel so that would be my choice, it does have some Japanese influence btw but i'm yet to go through everything there. Le Clarence is also very nice, might be a bit simpler/classic cooking from Banctel and there should be also an English version now.. For an exceptional coffee table and less cookbook, Kei 2, i got them from amazon uk as it was the cheapest for me and fortunately under my country tax limits.. It seems to be still the best price out there, as for most of the Chef books i order..

My main interest in the modern books category is exactly the style you mentioned, European with heavy Japanese influence (or other asian kitchens), a lot of Kaiseki inspiration, Yakitori and Sushi in home cooking in recent years. I do have i think most of Masui's books, i pretty much can't resist them 🙂 Altough last Kei 2 was a bit dissappointing, it's more of a very stunning pictures book and the recipes at the end are quite basic and confusing. Her latest Racine - Un Japonais a Reims is on the way and I regret not buying her past Yukawatan book when came out, as it seems to worth nowdays X10 (assuming there is someone willing to pay it "-)). I LOVE Sepia by Martin Benn, might be my favorite, bau.steine also very good, Dos Pallilos has fantastic recipes but leans more towards Chinese, My Way by Tim Rau nice and many recipes, Toyo and Sola bth from Masui, are quite nice, Toyo has that Kaiseki influence, i also want to purchase Donburi by Julien Lemarie, looks like a pretty simple Japanese influenced book..

Thanks, would love to read more of your thoughts on Frantzen, i asked about it in a different thread but didn't get much there 🙂 Some of my latest purchases - upper two found on abebooks used in great condition and a nice price, Jerome Banctel purchased new and at first glance really like it, very comprehensive on the recipes side and this is mainly what i like from the modern chef books (in french of course, no English version yet).

I don't think it will happen 🙂 It's different with "niche cookbooks".. But i will continue checking prices for sure and maybe something will fall sometime.. And now i see the Disfrutar launched a big volume lately, around 150 euro before shipping, another one to the wish list.. And some other interesting ones, hard self-restraint 🙂

Yes that's the one.. Montagud publication is i guess sort of a Spanish Phaidon 🙂 Can't say i loved some books i have related to them, like Atrio, so while Azurmendi 2021 book is of course very interesting, the current prices are intimidating. Most books in those higher price ranges, it's very hard to find appropriate info and references to consider, so eventually it's quite a gamble i have to say 🙂

Another shot in the dark for info on modern chef/restaurant books 🙂 Maybe somebody purchased this (quite expensive) book and can give some insight on the ratio of culinary and recipes side vs coffee table book aspect ? Thx

Apart from Noma :-) Frantzen has a new book in English, wonder if someone purchased and can share opinion. And i'm very curious about Norway's Maaemo 2018 book, only published in German i think, and quite pricy.. Would be glad to know what people who might have purchased think, any other interesting suggestions are welcome, thx :-)

Thank you very much Teonzo, your lists are always amazing ! I followed several of the books you mentioned hoping to catch them possibly used at better price points but no success, really wanted Kei II and price now in 3 digits land so i will pass, also Jerome Banctel hoping to "fish" sometime.. On others i will try to find some more info, many modern books concentrate nowdays on the "foraging chefs" which is not exactly the book style i'm looking for.. Last option Lummi looks like an interesting book to consider, thank you again for all those lists and knowledge you share..

It's me again, on the look for Chef's books 🙂 Haven't seen much mentioned on this topic on this board in past year, would be glad to get again good ideas to consider.. Have purchased and started reading lately those three : Christophe Pelé, Le Clarence: Le livre de cuisine - In French so the translator works extra hours, very well made, eye candy for sure, culinary content a bit on the "classy simpler" side but really liked it overall Atrio - Spanish and English, still "digesting" this one, a bit of a disappointment i have to say, as the introductions/conversations/mood photos seem to me as suppressing the place of the culinary content, need to read more into it Atelier by Marc Lepin - Nice overall, not the greatest in it's genre but a very nice effort in a good price level.. Would be happy to read about your latest acquisitions and recommendetations, thanks 🙂

I don't know about a book related to cooking at Chinese temples, but on the shojin ryori and Japanese temples, i really like "The Heart of Zen Cuisine: A 600 Year Tradition of Vegetarian Cookery" by Soei Yoneda, it's another old one, quite simple but fascinating. But it's amazing to see now the prices on Amazon for those oldies (Bhutan and this one), became i guess real collectors books :-)

Fantastic info teonzo, thanks a lot :-)

Any impressions on the newer chefs books ? Hunting for more to the collection but it seems difficult to find reviews and info about the books i'm looking at, like Aska, tickets, room for dessert.. Any other interesting chefs books to check, that came out in last year or two ? Looking for books that have many recipes, practical and not too "philosophic"/personal stories :-) Maybe wait for 2019 publications ?

Thanks Chris and Jackie for the info :-)

I guess this question is mainly to the Australian members here :-) Many years ago i've ordered Lotus : Asian flavors and it turned out to be a very big surprise, one of the best asian books i have, and was very cheap and affordable.. Have been thinking for a long time about ordering also the later book by Ezard and his guys, Gingerboy, but this is much harder to find and unfortunately what i see, is much more expensive then Lotus case.. So not sure if to pull the trigger.. Is it totally different and "special" from the first book, and might be worth the effort ? And any info on newer books from great Austalian chefs is always fun to get :-) I have Sepia, Bentley, all Gilmore's books.. Sadly very hard to find currently Ben Shwery's origin in "reasonable" price (and english version..). Thx for any info !

Taste of Persia is at 2.99$ now, don't know if it was mentioned in this great thread.

Teo thanks a lot for the list, i've ordered now Liebrandt's book and El Celler i really want for a long time, price indeed low on this edition.. I have Manresa, Peter Gilmore's books and Marque, really like the last one and didn't look enough into the others.. Wish i could find Origin by Ben Shwery at a decent price but unfortunately didn't pull the triger yers ago when it was pretty cheap.. Baines's book really interesting, indeed pretty high price.. wasn't sure about the Coi book but it sounds like i should have it, so i think i will order Roca's and Coi book as a start :-) Thanks for your post, enjoyed reading it !

Some time has passed and i'm here again, on the hunt for recent modern books.. Would love getting more ideas from your recent purchases of really impressive chefs/restaurants books.. I loved everything i bought in past years - Alinea (amazing book), EMP (very nice, second chapter is out..), Sepia and Atlier Crenn (also great books), Pascal Barbot's L'astrance in French, a very interesting book and cooking style for sure, WD-50 purchased recently seems also like a fun book with many things to try.. Have a "birthday budget" of around 200-300$ for one or several outstanding books and would be grateful again to read recent thoughts like the great ones i got in past years, thanks !

Hi :-) Bought 1.7Kg pork chunk, might be a bit of weird cutting, seems like a rack of pork chops caught between V shaped in bones. Would like to sous vide it whole without further cutting to single steaks and would be glad to get a direction for temp and time, from what i've seen 60-62C area might be great to keep it juicy but i'm lost with the time, as it is a big chunk and not single steaks.. Thanks !

I didn't exactly understand your direction, as of course fruits are mainly water :-) At summer i almost don't bother with "cooking a sorbet" as i usually did in the past with pectin or combo of stabilizer+something else "startchy" like tapioca meltadoxterin.. I just juice whatever i have, blendered well with some orange juice and a bit of sugar, a drop of orange flower extract ( or rose water ) and put it just like that in the machine, at some point, quite early and should be "monitored carfully" :-) It gets to an excellent runny "fruit ice" water that is really good, and i think it is close to what you are looking for, but cannot be sure of course, worth experimenting. If churned too much, and in a very good home machine, it gets almost to a more "frothier" sherbet/ice cream consistency, good of course only out of machine, later in home freeze degrees it has of course zero chance to remain something reasonable other then a block of icy fruit.. Have to remark that i do use for that matter a very good home machine ( musso lussino 4080 ), so should be taken into consideration, it has it's own abilities and spinning rate etc... It's also Italian made, so i guess the final product can hold the title "italian ice" "-)