I like cookbooks that inspire me visually — sort of an elegant melding of a coffee-table book and cookbook. These two new-releases fit that mold and are quite simply, perfection.
Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food (Grand Central Publishing, $30)
“mornings”
Buvette is the restaurant I visit without fail whenever I’m in New York. The space exudes charm and is known for its delicious range of small-plate treats. I first fell in love with Buvette over a Stationery Show weekend dinner of mussels — the sauce was amazing! — but have been known to pop in simply to enjoy an afternoon glass of rosé at the bar. And now, I’m a fan of Buvette’s Paris location* + have fallen for a good French 75 cocktail. Those of you who’ve asked me for NYC travel recs will no doubt remember my pleas to “go to Buvette and make sure you order the chocolate mousse!” As such, I’ve been anticipating Jody Williams’ cookbook for ages, and I’m so happy it’s finally available. Filled with gorgeous photography by Gentl & Hyers, flipping through ‘Buvette’ is like taking a virtual visit to Williams’ gastrothèques. The book’s recipes span breakfast to late-night, and happily includes my favorites, the croque monsieur with cornichons, and yes, the famous chocolate mousse.
Paris Pastry Club (Hardie Grant, $29.95)
crème brûlée for one
Fanny Zanotti is having a moment: not only is she head pastry chef at one of the hottest reservations in London (that’s the Chiltern Firehouse, for those of you keeping score) but she’s also put together a knock-out début cookbook. Out this month in the UK — and coming soon to the US — Paris Pastry Club is a pâtisserie-lover’s dream. Whether you revel in spending an afternoon baking the perfect brioche, are assembling a repertoire of favorites as you dream of opening your own pastry shop someday, or simply take pleasure in ogling beautifully photographed madeleines (guilty), this is the book for you. The recipe I’m hoping to master is Fanny’s ‘crème brûlée for one’. Portion perfection in dessert form.
image credits: buvette photos by gentl & hyers, courtesy of grand central publishing // paris pastry club photos courtesy of hardie grant publishers
* the may 2014 issue of bon appétit features buvette paris waiter gabriel galand on the cover. over the weekend, we were in paris again (and at buvette, again) and gabriel sweetly let me know about his Q&A feature at the bon appétit website. enjoy!