Eleven Madison Cookbook Alternatives?

[Ratatata]

Hi everyone, new member here, thanks for having me.
I use very few cookbooks in my daily life but was using the "Eleven Madison Park: the cookbook" (original edition) religiously for an annual dinner I put together. 
I love this cookbook first because it has a special meaning for me (it was my best restaurant experience), but also because there is a great variety of recipes, it is beautiful and it is a very challenging cookbook for me while staying in the realm of reasonably doable at home. 

These dishes are challenges I set myself to accomplish, include interesting ingredients and pairing of flavors. I remember cooking the bay scallop ceviche with persimmons and definitely not loving each of the preparation I worked on, while really enjoying the final dish once it came together. These type of surprises are what makes it worthwhile for me. I get to learn new things.
Unfortunately, after using it for a decent amount of time, I am starting to run out of new recipes I can try that work for the season and the audience I cook for. 

I have ordered the revised edition to keep me going a bit, but I am looking for my next cookbook to keep me going another 5-10 years.

It seem there is a NoMad cookbook, which I am considering but not sure if it is in the same vein as EMP. I had taken a look at the original French Laundry one before, and may consider the French Laundry/Per se, but I don't remember being as excited about these recipes, also considering the Miramar one but have not seen it so don't know much about it.
Any suggestions?

 

[blue_dolphin]

Welcome to eGullet, @Ratatata!  I use my cookbooks for everyday cooking so not the best person to answer your question but I’m wondering if you’ve considered David Kinch's Manresa (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)? 

[weinoo]

I like the Gramercy Tavern Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).

[Tropicalsenior]

12 hours ago, Ratatata said:

interesting ingredients and pairing of flavors.

After reading the reviews, it seems like Manresa, recommended by @blue_dolphin would be an excellent choice for you.

However, I live in Costa Rica where it is almost impossible to buy good cookbooks so I rely heavily on the web. I can highly recommend our own @Ann_T's blog for dishes from the very simple to the very elegant that would be at home in any fine dining establishment. Her recipes are all her own and highly reliable.

It sounds like you have a very discerning audience that you cook for once a year. I would be very interested in hearing about it and I hope that you take us with you in your preparations and your final product. Welcome to The Forum.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Sunday Suppers at Lucques (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is a restaurant cookbook that may not be as aspirational as you are seeking for your annual blow-out but I can highly recommend the book.  It offers multi-course seasonal menus for six.  Used copies are available at very modest cost so it might be worth a look. 
We have a thread on it here: Cooking from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

 Good morning, Ratatata.  Welcome to a happy place.

Since you seem to tolerate recipes with layers of preparation I feel safe in suggesting Jeremy Fox's "On Vegetables".   This is not a vegetarian cookbook but rather an extraordinary collection of singular vegetable dishes.   And not vegetable side dishes but important enough to be served as courses on their own.    This would seem to me to work well with your annual dinners where you would surround the main protein with several of these stand-alone plates/bowls.    And of course, they would serve you well as worthwhile suppers for you, year around.   Most of these recipes are multi-stage, coming together at the end, as you suggest appeals to you.

[oferl]

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 🙂  

[Ratatata]

Thanks for the replies! I will check out Manresa, looks like it could be great, hopefully i can find it at the local library or some bookstore before purchasing. I could find a good way to get a peek at the recipes and set up of the book.
I will make sure to check the blog too!

 

One of the thing I realized reviewing all the recipes is that I need to
1/ find some time to make another annual dinner in the spring/summer to take advantage of these recipes.
2/ start really catching up on the desserts. I have stayed away from these recipes as I am not an experienced baker and these recipes are really complex. But some of them look delightful. 
There is never a time I don't learn something when cooking from that book but it takes dedication, hence the once a year and done.

 

Case in point with making the beef tenderloin recipe with bone marrow crust and bordelaise sauce. I learned that while I enjoy eating bone marrow once in a while, I sure dont enjoy cooking with it! but the braised oxtails (and ingredient of that recipe), which was the first time for me too, was amazing and not that complicated to do.  We had oxtail tacos for a week afterwards.  It is also not a cookbook to learn the classics. Way too convoluted of recipes. But it is great to have new culinary adventures.

 

[Ratatata]

9 minutes ago, oferl said:

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 🙂  

Thanks for the recs! I do speak french fluently (native) so I will check the Yannick  and La Reserve book! I tend to stay away from french recipes or cookbooks because I find it is hard to sometimes find the right ingredients and if I fail, I never know if it is because of the difference in ingredients or something else.  

Alinea is one that came to mind. I remember checking it out around the same time I cook Eleven Madison Park and reviewed the French Laundry one. I dont think i am much of a fun of molecular gastronomy, In fact we had reservation there many years back (when they still had the semi affordable tables) and we ended up going a different way because I felt i hadnt quite explored other food enough.  I dont quite connect with the approach. although I may at some point in my life.
I had similar reservations about Manresa, regarding the hyper local products. EMP is hard to source for but they list of their sources and made it fairly accessible. I have not run into issues to get what I needed outside of being out of season or trying to locate Hobelkase for my dish this year. 

[rob1234]

Phaidon usually publishes these kinds of restaurant cookbooks. I would look through here https://www.phaidon.com/store/cookbooks-food-and-drink/ and see if you can get some of them through your local library. Then purchase the ones you like best after that.

 

My favourite to cook out of from this style of book is Simon Wright's French Cafe or Saison.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 minutes ago, rob1234 said:

Phaidon usually publishes these kinds of restaurant cookbooks. I would look through here https://www.phaidon.com/store/cookbooks-food-and-drink/ and see if you can get some of them through your local library. Then purchase the ones you like best after that.

 

My favourite to cook out of from this style of book is Simon Wright's French Cafe or Saison.

Absolutely preview them through your library if you can!    This has saved me literally thousands of dollars.

[hotsaucerman]

some of my reqs:

 

-core by clare smyth (very British Michelin star stuff but maybe the most accessible "high end" cookbook I've read ie recipes arent too crazy, easy to pull them apart and pick what you want/can make)

 

-daniel: my french cuisine is pretty technical and elaborate but doable. very french nouveau cuisine (that might be a redundant statement)

 

-a step below but still one of my all time favs might be taste and technique by namoi pomeroy. its like a masters degree for home cooks.

 

Alinea is cool but it is maybe the most challenging cookbook i've ever read for a home cook. a lot of the recipes im not 100% sure you could work around them without the right equipment (and there is a LOT of equipment) though there are some things in there i've made that were not terribly hard (theres a fun beer dessert thing i made once). for Alinea, there was a guy a couple years ago who cooked his way through the whole book...his blog is probably up and maybe would give insight into what to expect. I'd 100% go for manresa over alinea.

 

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would second the grammercy tavern book. great recipes and layout, very very reasonable recipes for a home cook (especially for the audience on this forum)

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also...its not too tricky to track down cookbooks online if you know where to look...but i dont want to get in trouble so ill leave it at that. i usually do this to ~check em out~ before I commit to buying. also ebay is great for tracking down used cookbooks...i grabbed a copy of alinea for like 25 bucks last year.