Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking by Anthony Bourdain, Robert DiScalfani (Photographer), Philippe Lajaunie (With), Jose de Meirelles (With)

From Barnes & Noble

Long before Anthony Bourdain became a "tell-all" bestselling author, he was a standout chef. For years, the author of Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour has sharpened his skills as the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles, one of Manhattan's most prestigious and down-to-earth restaurants. In Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, he reveals the cooking secrets that enabled him to create bistro fare that makes Parisians envious. Exquisite food; great kitchen tips.

From the Publisher

In this long-awaited cookbook, Anthony Bourdain reveals the hearty, delicious recipes of Les Halles and the provocative tricks of the trade that have made him a celebrated name across the globe.

Before stunning the world with his bestselling Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour, Anthony Bourdain spent years serving some of the best French brasserie food in New York. With its no-nonsense, down-to-earth atmosphere, Les Halles matches Bourdain's style perfectly: a restaurant where you can dress down, talk loudly, drink a little too much wine, and have a good time with friends. Now, Bourdain gives us his Les Halles Cookbook, a cookbook like no other: candid, funny, audacious, full of his signature charm and bravado.

So bring a sharp knife, a big appetite, and a willingness to learn, as Bourdain teaches you everything you need to know to prepare classic French bistro fare. While you're being guided, in simple steps, through recipes like roasted veal short ribs and steak frites, escargots aux noix, and foie gras aux pruneaux, you'll feel like he's in the kitchen beside you-reeling off a few insults when you've scorched the sauce, and then patting you on the back for finally getting the steak tartare right.

As practical as it is entertaining, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook is a can't-miss treat for cookbook lovers, aspiring chefs, and Bourdain fans everywhere.

Publishers Weekly

A celebrity with a high-profile position as executive chef at New York bistro Les Halles, and bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour, Bourdain doesn't intend to break new ground. The dishes do exactly as the subtitle notes and include such solid classic fare as Onion Soup Les Halles, Steak au Poivre, Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin and Chocolate Mousse. Nearly all recipes are within reach of competent home cooks, and those that are more complicated or time-consuming-Bouillabaisse, Cassoulet and Roulade of Wild Pheasant-are thoroughly spelled out to calm most jitters. Foie gras, duck fat and dark veal stock are frequent components, but a list of suppliers makes just about every ingredient available. Even though many of the dishes can be found in other cookbooks, what sets this one apart is Bourdain's signature wise-ass attitude that pervades nearly every recipe, explanatory note and chapter introduction. Profanity adds frequent color. If Aunt Doris would blanche at pearl onions being called "little fuckers," a cook who prefers boneless meat in Daube Proven al a "poor deluded bastard," or a person nervous about making these recipes a "dipshit," this book is not for her. Photos. (Oct.) Forecast: With raves by Jacques P pin, Mario Batali, Jim Harrison and Eric Ripert, Bourdain's handsomely designed book will be taken seriously even by those who aren't wowed by his self-conscious swagger. Viewers who have followed his culinary travels on the Food Network will also be attracted to the book. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

New York Times Book Review

"Bourdain shows himself to be one of the country's best food writers. His opinions are as strong as his language, and his tastes as infectious as his joy."

Library Journal

Bourdain has been chef of New York City's Les Halles ("the best goddamn brasserie/bistro in the country") since 1998. With his best-selling Kitchen Confidential, he acquired a bad-boy reputation that he revels in to this day. Bourdain can be a smart, entertaining writer, but his smugness and reverse snobbery can be wearying-as can his indulgent use of profanity, not only in his boot camp-style introduction to the restaurant world but in the recipes themselves: Butter is "fucking soft," the "broiler sucks," the reader is a "dipshit." As for the recipes, they are straightforward versions of bistro classics from Frisee aux Lardons to Steak au Poivre. Expect demand. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Jim Harrison
"Anyone serious about their cooking will want to own Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. It has an enormous amount of vital information presented in Bourdain's pungent, abrasive, and memorable writing style." (Jim Harrison)

Jacques Pepin
"Don't be misled by Anthony Bourdain's witty, irreverent style. His Les Halles Cookbook is solid, smart, and informative, and his recipes are bona fide bistro fare. An instant classic." (Jacques Pepin)

Mario Batali
"Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook joins the classic French cookbooks on my shelf, and shames every would-be 'bistro bible'. Nobody else writes with such respect for real food." (Mario Batali)

Eric Ripert
"This is a great cookbook! Anthony Bourdain directs you brilliantly through delicious recipes, with explanations that are crystal clear." (Eric Ripert)

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents