Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunée (Grand Central Publishing): The newly released paperback version of Sunée’s hungry journey from lost to found is engrossing, heartbreaking and downright delicious. Sunée will make you yearn for French lovers, Provençal estates and a helping of whatever she has on the stove. Bonus: Great, well-written recipes follow each chapter, giving you a taste of Sunée’s incredible travels.
Simple Stunning Parties at Home: Recipes, Ideas, and Inspiration for Creative Entertaining by Karen Bussen (Stewart, Tabori & Chang): Shrinking entertainment budget? No problem. This DIY Network expert shows you how to make home the hottest spot around. From delectable, easy recipes and cocktail concoctions to gaffe-avoiding advice and perfect playlists, this gorgeously photographed volume is like having your very own party planner on speed dial.
Olives & Oranges: Recipes & Flavor Secrets from Italy, Spain, Cyprus & Beyond by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox (Houghton Mifflin): This exquisite book will make you want to grab the biggest canvas bag you’ve got, head straight for the farmers’ market, and start cooking. Jenkins, chef-owner of the devilishly divine Porchetta on East Seventh Street, inspires equally with fresh, flavorful recipes (and the history behind them) from her journeys along the Mediterranean.
Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials By Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen (Putnam): As lovely as the postprandial treats she now makes at Brooklyn’s lauded Dressler, Jurgensen drags us through the sticky and the sweet in her aptly named chef’s-eye-view behind the swinging doors. It’s pure candy for the kitchen-curious.
The New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes From the City’s Best Chefs by Florence Fabricant (Rizzoli): What do you get when you combine one of The New York Times’ most respected food writers and over 100 of NYC’s best restaurants? A book of epic and epicurean proportions. This newly updated edition of what has become a New York classic lets you peer into pots and pans at the likes of Thomas Keller’s Per Se and Alain Ducasse’s Adour, behold the molecular mystery of Wylie Dufresne’s wd~50 and savor creations by such Midtown stalwarts as the Carnegie Deli.
The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe (Ecco): Learning about cheese through the wonderful, irreverent Liz Thorpe, VP of all things fromage at NY’s venerable Murray’s, is a giddy trip through 80 hallowed cheesemaking halls in America. Part travel guide, part cheese course, part insider’s source to the greatest American cheesemakers, this chronicle is unabashed lactose love.
