Creation of a restaurateur
930346
In the many years I have been a patron, Connie has shared her passion for food with customers in all of her restaurant and other venues.  In her book, the compelling stories tie together and flesh out the tidbits her customers have gathered over the years during those brief and rare moments over dinner when Connie had time to visit. And the reader gets a full picture of Connie's history and her personal drive and passion. For those who can cook, the recipes are a big bonus!
1844973
Great read for any foodie aspiring to work in a restaurant.

I find myself constantly recommending this book to friends and family all the time.

Great book!
1701677
Je viens de lire ce livre et je veux essayer beaucoup de recettes. Dommage qu'il n'aye pas de photos pour la moitie des recettes mais sinon c'est un livre tres interessant! Je dois acheter quelques liqueurs sinon la plupart des ingredients sont faciles a trouver!
3534376
I won this book through Goodreads to give an honest review.

This cookbook was written by a chef of the Del Posto restaurant in New York. The introduction explains the concept of the restaurant as well as it's creation and background.

Things I liked about it:
The cover was beautiful, as were the pictures within the book. Everything looked appetizing, and the pictures of the actual restaurant looked exciting.
Each recipe came with a detailed description of any special tool required to make it, and it sometimes offered an alternative tool that might be more common in a normal kitchen.
At the back there was an allergen guide that covered almost every possible food allergy (nuts, soy, gluten, eggs, shellfish, etc.) for each recipe so the reader can quickly consult a list to decide what they can or can't have. This would be faster than going recipe by recipe individually.
Many of the recipes have origin stories and wine pairings.

Things I didn't like:
Not all of the recipes are set up in the traditional step by step format. This could be difficult for novice cooks. These recipes were also based on the what the restaurant creates. This means they are small "tasting" dishes, often made with ingredients not used on a normal basis. It's definitely not something I would pull out for a normal weekly family dinner, maybe just special occasions.
Although the pictures were beautiful I was sad there wasn't more of them. A lot of the recipes did not include pictures of the finished product which could create confusion.

Overall I enjoyed this book, but I don't think it is for everyone.
1458516
This duo matched up not only in life but in business and now in offering home cooking menu help.  Here is great set of twenty appetizers, twenty desserts and fifty entree with a side dish or more all with diving it up between two chefs or going it alone.  There are also other tips given with each as to timing and technique advice.

The variety and creativity here is outstanding and the ingreds are not rare to too difficult to obtain nor is the techniques involved for the average to intermediate home chef.  Even for the novice there are many that could school the start of great culinary adventure and success.

Mouth watering now as I encourage all to try the likes of: Grilled Radichhio Stuffed with Goat Cheese (two of my favorite tastes paired magnificently); Ginger and Lemon-Scented Chicken Broth with Grilled Prawns; Pumpkin-Leek Tart; Sturgeon with a Horseradish Crust and Watercress Aioli; Pork Short Ribs Braised in Curry with Apples and Chiles; Sweet and Spicy Curry Grilled Tuna with Gingered Vegetable-Rice Noodle Slaw; Pear Tart with Chocolate Cookie Crust; Dessert Bruschetta with Chocolate Ganache, Strawberries and Hazelnuts; Oven Braised Peaches with Raspberry Sorbet.

Good photos and aids throughout.  This one begs to be cooked with and works famously.
4667259
I bought this book at the recommendation of a superb professional chef,  known for her beautiful creations. When I looked through it I realized it  was put together by a staff of people with great food-design talent.  Incidentally, I have seen these hors d'oeuvres copied by the best  chefs/caterers in New York. For the pages upon pages of beautiful ideas  alone, it is worth the price. Martha/the staff/the editor (whomever is  responsible) leaves no stone unturned - i.e., every kind of food idea you  have ever seen is here in miniature, and more elegant! I have not used the  recipes verbatim so I cannot say anything about that ... just the many,  many pages of superb visual ideas. This book has changed my plates forever!
3767844
You might be most familiar with Eric Ripert from his frequent appearances on the hit BravoTV show, Top Chef. If you run in culinary circles then you know of Eric already and his incredibly famous Le Bernardin restaurant (he's been there since 1994).

On The Line presents an insight into the operations of the restaurant, the do and do not, the why and the how, and the what you're getting into if you're thinking of opening a place of your own some day. You'll also learn a bit more about Eric Ripert - where's he's from, his experience, and what he's up to today.

Major book sections: The History, In the Kitchen, The Dishes, The Dining
Experience, The Business, The Recipes.

Here's a summary...

The History - with a series of beautiful photographs and quotes from Ripert and others you learn the history of Le Bernardin from its beginnings in 1986 to receiving Michelin's highest rating (3 stars). Note that the original Le Bernardin opened in Paris in 1972, but this book is referring to what we consider the current NY location.

In the Kitchen - Forty cooks and 100 seats makes this restaurant spacious but intimate. This section includes a "kitchen lingo decoder" so you can learn what words like: call out, expedite, line, mise en place, sous-chef, and tournant mean. If you're opening your own place these words will need to become second nature to you. One of the coolest parts of this section is a typical daily timeline of what is happening in the kitchen from open to close. You'll also find tips and tricks on what every kitchen needs - and it's not just blenders and dishtowels. The section then goes into incredible detail about the role of each member of the kitchen team - you'll learn the difference between a chef de cuisine and a sous-chef and saucier - all with pictures directly from the kitchen. My second favourite part of this section was the full colour spread of fish and a discussion about the role of the fish butcher.

The Dishes - ever wonder how they pick new recipes? It's by committee often, and you'll read about the process used to select food items and how to present them on the plate. This is the most beautiful section of the book with full colour images of dishes (with references to their associated recipes which are at the back of the book). While this is only a sampling of some of the dishes you will find at the restaurant, it's absolutely mouth watering!

The Dining Experience - for me this is a make or break in a restaurant. Even great food can't overshadow a bad dining experience. Again this section provides a glossary of terms such as: maitre d', sommeliers, captain, back watier, and more. You're also treated to a diagram of the seating area in the restaurant along with table designations. You'll learn how orders are taken, what's important in a waiter's skillset, expectations of performance and more. The best part in this section is the "Cardinal Sins" - that is, a list of 129 things that should absolutely NEVER happen in the customer/staff relationship. Example: 77 - Not clearing one course completely before serving the next.

The Business - This is how they make it all happen, from the director, to charity relationship, to determining food costs. This is a very small section of the book, really only a few pages, but you'll pick up some excellent tips such as food costs should be 30% of sales and how to deal with a food inspector.

The Recipes - The largest section of the book are the recipes. These are the step by step instructions to make the gorgeous dishes that you saw pictures of in The Dishes section - including other tips and tricks like how to temper chocolate and how to make a chocolate/caramel/maple "egg".

On The Line is a must have for people who appreciate fine dining, or are
considering opening their own restaurant that hopes to receive 3 stars one day. My opinion is that you should pay VERY close attention to the dining experience, regardless of how big your place will be...if your customers have a bad experience you don't just lose them, but you lose everyone they tell about it.

Enjoy!
2125555
This is a great book that really gives a look at what happens on a daily basis at the most famous restaurant in the world.  Abend does a good job of describing what it's like to work at elBullis from the perspective of lowest man (sometimes woman) on the totem pole.  We begin to not only see and understand Adria's magically creative process but also realize that within the execution of the final product lies hours of monotonous work by those who want nothing more than to say they learned from the master.

The only reason I give it four stars is that at points the story can really slow down and become laborious as it describes yet another apprentices concerns about their future or whether they are getting the experience they expected.  If I could I'd give it 4.5 stars because I think Abend does as much as she can with the material and her chosen angle.  I'm glad she went down the road she did because it would have been very easy to write a fawning book about Adria's genius without bringing anything new to the table.

Overall, if you enjoy food, creativity, and understanding what drives people to do things like work 6 months and 12 hours a day for free you will enjoy this book.  If you're interested enough in elBulli, its style of cooking, and its place in the pantheon of restaurants, to have found this book- you should probably read it.
3955347
There are few introductory molecular gastronomy cookbooks for the home chef.
Instead, there are a number of more daunting, complex and expensive tomes that are geared for the experienced amateur molecular gastronomist who has a few solid techniques under the belt, as well as a solid understanding of the theory.

Jozef Youssef seeks to fill that gap with this book.  It is more an instruction manual with some illustrative recipes.  Youssef gently introduces the home cook to the different equipment and techniques used in molecular gastronomy.  Each recipe has icons for the equipment and tools needed, as well as both volume and more accurate weight measurements.
The first half of this book discusses techniques and includes recipes for dishes that do not require as much in the way of specialized equipment. The topics include spherification, smoking, foams, sous vide, transglutaminase (an intimidating enzyme name for culinary glue), and gels.

The second half is devoted to more esoteric (and often more expensive) equipment, and as such is divided into short discussions on each topic with fewer recipes.  The subjects covered include centrifuging, rotary evaporation, use of the anti-griddle as well as flavor pairing and presentations.

This is a great guidebook, for the home chef who wants to dip a finger into spherification, foams, sous vide cooking, and wants to experiment and find out what this new field of molecuar gastronomy is all about.  The recipes are usually simple and are meant to help you learn about the technique, which then allows you to develop your own recipes.
4454425
All your cover photos look like restaurants?  Did you actually write and create the recipes or do you have recipe testers?  I want to do a cookbook on Lorraine and how it adheres to the principles of the Mediterranean Diet with its regional foods.  I adapted that diet for Germany and have never gone to the doctor for a cold in the 2 1/2 years that I have lived in Stuttgart.  French cuisine has met the needs of the country for centuries, and I really do not see any need to change it unless you live in a different country.
4011392
From the start, its clear the author has put a lot of time and thought into this subject and consequently, the book. He draws on his extensive hospitality career to offer advice and tips to carefully guide you through the simple process of connecting with and WOWing guests. The ultimate goal here is to show waiters how to provide a better guest service experience which, in turn, leads to better tips.

This book is written in an easy-to-read format with an endearing conversational tone that will have you reading quickly just to get ahead to the next point. Mr. DiGioias caring personality, wit and sparkle is immediately evident and infectious humor is interspersed throughout the book with challenging, in-your-face common sense tips.

There are many practical suggestions one could follow that would instantly put them in a favorable light with their guests such as offering a genuine smile when approaching the table for the first time or asking guests with children if they would like the childrens meals served firstand so much more. Just a little extra effort will go a long way toward putting the guests at ease and helping to create an enjoyable and memorable visit.

"Earn More Tips [...]" is not just a great book for waiters/servers. It can be used as a teaching tool by managers to increase the effectiveness of all employees from the back to the front of the house. When customers are well taken care of and feel valued, they tip will better and when they can, will frequent your establishment more and EVERYONE WINS.

I believe everyone, not just people in the hospitality industry, can learn something from this book. If you are interested in growing your business, customer base, client list, etc., "Earn More Tips []" will inspire you to take a realistic look at your current operation and find ways to improve customer service. A happy customer is a customer that will return repeatedlyand they will spread the word. I would even encourage customers/guests to read this book so they know what excellent service should look like. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. It will pay for itself many, many times over!
3059868
I have eaten at about 200 of the restuarants in this book and with the exception of one they were dead on. I wish an updated version would be published. Some of the listings are closed.
1204509
He/she won't be able to pull off the recipes by him/herself, but you can put them onto some small task .... say, making a plum sauce to dribble over the final product ... to keep them out of your hair while you do the heavy work. In fact, think of these recipes as team projects ... that's probably the only way to get everything to the table at serving temperatures. Your hunter will beam with pleasure. You will be a god/dess in his/her eyes.
96622
Sharon Fullen, Opening a Restaurant or Other Food Business Starter Kit: How to Prepare a Restaurant Business Plan and Feasibility Study (Atlantic, 2005)

I took much of the summer off from reading new books, instead concentrating on stuff that's been languishing on my backlist, books I started back in the mists of time, had to return to the library, and that subsequently got lost in the book-journal shuffle (or that I have to get through interlibrary loan now, as I switched library systems a couple of years back). Opening a Restaurant... is one of those; I started it way back in August of 2007, had to return it because someone else had a hold on it, and forgot to take it out again until last week. While the dream of actually opening a restaurant has fallen by the wayside (or at least been put on a very very backburner), I figured I'd finish the book anyway and report back. It's the curse of the obsessive reviewer.

One of the great things about nonfiction is that in many cases you don't have to provide a summary; one look at the combined title and subtitle should tell you all you need to know. That's the case here, and Fullen does it short, sweet, and to the point, taking you step by step through the writing of a business plan and feasibility study, with little of the rah-rah-rah confidence-building stuff you find in so many more tiring books like this. The downside to that is that the book stays well within the norms, not mentioning any alternate suggestions for style or the like. That said, if you're looking to write a classic business plan to drum up money to open a restaurant, you'll want to read this unless you already know what you're doing. ***
180156
I purchased this book as a gift for a friend who works in a Chicago restaurant. He is enthusiatic about trying some of the recipes. The photographs are appealing and the recipes are easy to read and follow.
2238583
Digital Food Photography is an good choice for the amateur or beginning professional photographer looking to break into food photography. It mixes strong writing, a talented photographer (Lou Manna), and an excellent business acumen to  create a recipe for your success. It covers a wide range or topics:

-Equipment.
-Styling Techniques (photography).
-Food Styling, Cooking, and the cook.
-Image stylist and props.
-Composition.
-Lighting.
-Image processing.
-Customer Relation.

So here is the cautionary tale. This book is so well written, the techniques are presented with such refinement, the images are so well executed, and the information is so easy to grasp that they belay the true complexity of food photography.

So if you are really interested in food photography, step one is getting this book. Step two is practicing the lighting techniques until you understand the difference between the highlight and a specular highlight.
Step three is get yourself some clients and have some fun.
900663
I gave this as a gift to a friend who is interested in working as a chef someday-- it was much appreciated.  It arrived in excellent condition.