California Book Recommendations?

[mixmaster b]

Russ-

Are there any standout books in these areas that you would recommend? Most specifically:

- Cookbooks by Southern California authors, especially chefs?

- Books on the history of food in CA?

- Books on LA restaurant lore/history?

- Particularly good, recent books on the CA wines? (I assume there are a lot here...)

- Restaurant guides you find reliable?

Thank you for a great Q & A!

[russ parsons]

Ooooh, that's a good question. I don't think there has been a really good California cookbook. Let me rephrase: There have been a lot of really good cookbooks written in California, but I don't think there's been one that really captures the sense of the state in the same way the Helen Evans Brown book did in the '50s. Maybe someone will write one someday. Maybe after he's finished the book he's working on now. Maybe.

The best book on California wine, I think, is Matt Kramer's "Making Sense of California Wine". It was published a few years ago and he's working on a revision now, but it still holds up (disclaimer: Matt's a really good friend).

Unfortunately, I don't think any of the local chef books have equalled what Alice and crew are doing up north, or what Judy Rogers did last year with Zuni. As far as a sense of cooking, my favorites are still the Evan Kleiman-Vianna La Place Cucina books.