The Best New Cookbooks for Fall 2017

By Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu

From the co-founders of the female-focused indie food mag Cherry Bombe, this cookbook is an ode to girl power in (and out of) the kitchen. The bubble gum pink cover packs a punch, but even more enticing are the artfully photographed eats inside, from the likes of Chrissy Teigen and Karlie Kloss, models who have managed to simultaneously conquer the worlds of high fashion and baked goods; chef Christina Tosi, the founder of Milk Bar; Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef fame; and Angela Dimayuga, executive chef of Mission Chinese Food.

The ask? Send us your most meaningful recipe. The result? More than 100 dishes, desserts, and drinks, from hanger steak and tomato salad to funfetti cake with cherry filling and charred pineapple margaritas. It’s basically a dream dinner party with your best gal pals, in book form. —Nina Ruggiero

Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook (Clarkson Potter); $35; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Reem Kassis

“There is no single Palestinian Table,” Reem Kassis writes of her book’s title. “The Palestinian Table spans our entire geography… it is scattered across the globe and built from memories of a time when most of us lived in the same land.” Drawing on three generations of recipes and culinary wisdom from her own Palestinian family, Kassis expertly weaves this diaspora together in her debut cookbook.

Dishes like dumplings in yogurt sauce, roasted chicken stuffed with spiced rice, meat, and pine nuts, tomato salad dusted with sumac and sea salt, and semolina cake drenched in rosewater and orange blossom syrup are a thoughtful introduction to the region’s cuisine. —Laura Sant

The Palestinian Table (Phaidon); $40; phaidon.com.

By Jim Meehan

Award-winning bartender Jim Meehan is one of a handful of drinks nerds who’s had a profound impact on the cocktail scene in America: the “modern speakeasy” he made his name at, PDT, is still a must-visit NYC bar ten years after opening thanks to its innovative and excellent drinks.

Now, he’s taken a lifetime of knowledge and distilled it into a detailed bible of bartending that covers history, technique, tools and ingredients, plus 100 classic cocktail recipes and a sprinkling of invaluable insight from some of the world’s top bartenders. —LS

Meehan’s Bartender Manual (Ten Speed Press); $40; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Cipe Pineles, with editors Sarah Rich, Wendy MacNaughton, Debbie Millman, and Maria Popova

The first female art director at Condé Nast and the first woman inducted into the prestigious Art Directors Club, Cipe Pineles was one of the most important graphic designers of the 20th century, yet few people know her name. When editor Sarah Rich and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton discovered one of her original sketchbooks filled with illustrated recipes at a book fair one day, they set out to change that.

The result is this book, a gorgeous compendium of Pineles’ hand-lettered and illustrated recipes from her Jewish upbringing, with contributions from Mimi Sheraton, Steven Heller, Debbie Millman, Maira Kalman, and other notables from the world of food and design. It’s at once nostalgic and surprisingly contemporary in its vibe. —LS

Leave Me Alone with the Recipes: The Life, Art, and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles (Bloomsbury); $18; bloomsbury.com.

By JJ Goode, Helen Hollyman, and the Editors of Munchies

As you might expect from a book based on the famously rowdy Vice MUNCHIES series Chef’s Night Out, which follows some of the world’s best chefs around after service for a night of eating and large amounts of drinking, this is not a collection of restrained dinner party food. The recipes within are of the brash, fatty, flavorful variety, the kind of thing chefs make for themselves after a long shift and more-than-a-few post-shift drinks.

There is seven-layer dip from Christina Tosi, pasta from Wylie Dufresne; grilled cheese from Dominique Crenn; nasi lemak from Dale Talde; ice cream sandwiches from Meatball Shop proprietors Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman, and, of course, a recipe for homemade Fernet, the amaro beloved by inebriated chefs everywhere. —LS

Munchies: Late Night Meals from the World’s Best Chefs (Ten Speed Press); $30; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Massimo Bottura

The world’s best chefs have taken up the cause of food waste, and none more compellingly than chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, whose latest book will make you think differently about what and how you use ingredients in your kitchen. The recipes are inspired by his Refettorio Ambrosiano project, which began as a way to put wasted food from Milan’s Expo 2015 to good use for the community, and which still serves meals five days a week for area children and nearby homeless shelters.

Chefs like Daniel Humm, René Redzepi, Alain Ducasse, Viviana Varese, and Cristina Bowerman contributed recipes that turn stale bread, overripe tomatoes, carrot peels, and other simple ingredients into nourishing, beautiful dishes that would be at home in any Michelin-starred restaurant. —LS

Bread is Gold (Phaidon); $40; phaidon.com.

By Jon Bonné

One might expect a book of “wine rules” from a renowned wine writer and critic to be another stuffy compendium of dos and don’ts that takes most of the joy out of drinking wine. But Jon Bonné’s latest book is quite the opposite: a primer on all things wine that is clear, concise, and firmly anti-snob.

In it, he covers the basics of buying and serving, the ins and outs of major styles and how they differ, how to figure out what you, personally, like in a bottle, and how changing trends are impacting the industry—all while managing not to be either overly technical nor remedial in tone. There’s even a tongue-in-cheek (but hilariously accurate) “wine coolness matrix” which puts things into perspective: today’s Pét-nat is tomorrow’s horribly out of fashion Australian shiraz. —LS

The New Wine Rules (Ten Speed Press); $15; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock

Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, chef Josef Centeno daydreamed about bold flavors. “I wasn’t exposed to the gastronomic experiences of traveling abroad,” he writes in the introduction to Bäco. “But once I discovered cookbooks, I was transported to the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Africa, and beyond.” At his five restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles (Bäco Mercat, Bar Amá, Orsa & Winston, Ledlow, and P.Y.T.), plus his spot BäcoShop in Culver City, Centeno serves up globally inspired dishes that are delightfully tough to categorize.

Now, in his first book, Centeno teaches readers how to explore from inside their kitchen, too; Bäco‘s 130 recipes, grouped into chapters that progress from lighter to heaver fare, are inspired by everything from Middle Eastern mezze to snacks you’d find at a Japanese izakaya. —Avery Stone

Bäco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles (Chronicle); $35; chroniclebooks.com.

By Alex Guarnaschelli

One day in 1992, chef Alex Guarnaschelli was working a shift at her first restaurant job (at Larry Forgione’s New York restaurant An American Place), and tasted a Parker House roll during staff meal. “I knew I had to learn how to make it,” she writes in the introduction to The Home Cook. “When something excites the appetite to that level, it has to be a part of a collection of recipes to know by heart.”

Though Guarnaschelli has worked at some of the world's finest restaurants—including Guy Savoy (Paris), Daniel (New York), and Butter (New York), where she’s been the executive chef since 2003—her latest book is a love letter to her go-to staples, including family hand-me-downs like her father’s lemon chicken and Grandpa Guarnaschelli’s sweet-and-sour onions. —AS

The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart (Clarkson Potter); $35; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Rodolfo Guzmán

Over the last few years, Santiago has established itself as an emerging food destination, due in part to culinary trailblazers like Rodolfo Guzmán. In 2006, the Chilean chef opened his acclaimed restaurant, Boragó, and began serving up a tasting menu made only from locally foraged ingredients—from fish and fruits to flowers and algae.

In his debut cookbook, Guzmán features 100 exclusive recipes from the restaurant's menu, plus essays on Chile’s unique geography (and native ingredients), and sketches from his personal notebook—all of it accompanied by luminous photographs by Santiago-based photographer Cristóbal Palma. —AS

Borago (Phaidon); $60; phaidon.com.

By Leah Koenig

The first in a series of cookbooks exploring Jewish food, food writer Leah Koenig’s Little Book of Jewish Appetizers is an ode to forspeis (Yiddish for appetizer) dishes. These first offerings in a meal, Koenig writes, are “like the comedian who warms up the crowd before the featured act and ends up stealing the show.”

A sleek, slim volume containing only 25 recipes and vivid accompanying photographs, Koenig’s carefully curated selection includes new takes on classics (like tzatziki and fried gefilte fish), plus more modern offerings like shiitake and scallion falafel. —AS

Little Book of Jewish Appetizers (Chronicle); $19; chroniclebooks.com.

By Alison Roman

Flipping through Alison Roman's new cookbook is sort of like scrolling through her popular Instagram feed — you find yourself equal parts amused and famished. The food writer and former Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit drops a truth bomb mid-recipe as deftly as she transforms veggies into a hearty meal.

Her impressive yet approachable dishes, like a quick weeknight fish stew with olives — "admittedly a little basic," she writes — and caramelized winter squash with toasted coconut gremolata, are accompanied by candid commentary that will make you feel like you're cooking with your brutally honest (and exceptionally talented) best friend. —NR

Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes (Clarkson Potter); $30; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Kris Yenbamroong

We'll just come right out and say it: Any cookbook on a mission to "facilitate drinking and fun-having amongst friends" deserves a spot on your shelf. True, tackling a complicated Thai dish can be the opposite of fun for the uninitiated, but Kris Yenbamroong, the chef and owner behind Night + Market, the L.A. hotspot for Nothern Thai street food, manages to strip down traditionally intricate recipes while maintaining (and even amplifying) the Thai flavors you know and love. And better yet, he proves you can do it too.

Much of Yenbamroong's childhood was spent in his family's Thai-American restaurant, and his easy-to-follow recipes (and the cute stories and cultural learnings behind them), from cashew chicken inspired by his half-Chinese grandmother to drunken noodle pastrami, will make you feel like you’re learning in the Yenbamroong family kitchen. Before you know it, you won't even need to crack open a Singha for courage before firing up the wok — but go ahead, have one anyway. This is a celebration. —NR

Night + Market: Delicious Thai Food to Facilitate Drinking and Fun-Having Amongst Friends (Clarkson Potter); $35; penguinrandomhouse.com.

By Cenk Sönmezsoy

While most undergrads were spending their college years eating instant ramen, Turkish baker and blogger Cenk Sönmezsoy was busy learning every recipe he could get his hands on. He has since grown into a self-proclaimed "obsessive home baker," and his unbridled passion for dessert shows in his dazzling new cookbook, which he wrote, styled, photographed, and designed himself.

Within, you'll find full-page spreads of cookie dough you can almost taste and colorful tarts so beautiful you'll want to hang them on your wall. (They don't call him the "Artful Baker" for nothing.)

Sönmezsoy's famous "lace" brownies, a blond chocolate ganache-topped creation commissioned by Dolce & Gabbana, make a guest appearance, and his awe-inspiring Devil Wears Chocolate cake graces the cover. But the recipes, however elite in appearance, are tried and tested by and for home bakers like you. —NR

The Artful Baker: Extraordinary Desserts From an Obsessive Home Baker (Harry N. Abrams); $50; abramsbooks.com.