Skip to main content

MEMBER LOGIN

Departures Logo Created with Sketch.

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

Departures Logo Created with Sketch.
  • City Guides
  • Travel
  • Fashion
  • Art + Culture
  • Home + Design
Departures Logo Created with Sketch.
  • City Guides
  • Travel
  • Fashion
  • Art + Culture
  • Home + Design

FOLLOW US

LOGIN

NEWSLETTER

More In City Guides

River Cruises Are the Best Way to Experience the Ganges—Here's Why

Ruined battle elephant stables and hidden temples built by Hindu Queens—here's why a luxury

The Ultimate Kids’ Club Features an Overwater Bungalow and Mini Spa
What a $720,000 Super Bowl Package Actually Gets You
Luxury in Tokyo: Your Guide to the City Ahead of the 2020 Olympics

More In Travel

  • Hotels
  • Travel Guides
  • Restaurants

Louis Vuitton's Objets Nomades Debuts First American Designer at Design Miami

Andrew Kudless and his Swell Wave Shelf will be featured in the annual de

GANNI’s Founders on Why They Don’t Want You to Call Their Brand "Sustainable"
Rent The Runway's Closet Concierge Is Going to Fix Your Travel Wardrobe Woes
The Most Stylish Men at the Fashion Awards 2019 in London

More In Fashion

  • Style
  • Shopping

New Study Finds the Luxury Cars Most Referenced in Today's Music

The study analyzed lyrics from the top 100 Billboard Hotlist artists of 2018.

Behind the Scenes of "Ford v Ferrari"
The Museum of Modern Art Broadens Its Horizons
Architect Francis Kéré Brings Stunning Low-Tech Buildings to the US

More In Art + Culture

  • Books
  • Philanthropy
  • Film

Tommy Hilfiger Is Selling Off Personal Home Decor Pieces

The famed fashion designer and his wife are selling personal items from both their Connecticut ma

The Best Luxe Winter Home Décor
6 of the Best Home Goods Shops in Mexico City
A Fresh Take on Classic Dior Homeware

More In Home + Design

  • Art + Design
  • Architecture
LOGIN
NEWSLETTER
  • City Guides
  • Travel
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Travel Guides
  • Fashion
    • Style
    • Shopping
  • Art + Culture
    • Books
    • Film
    • Philanthropy
  • Home + Design
    • Art + Design
    • Architecture
  • MEMBER LOGIN
  • JOIN OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
  • Contact Advertise Sitemap
Home / Art & Culture / Books
Books

The Best New Cookbooks for Spring

By Laura Sant on April 05, 2018

Eight fresh titles to inspire you in the kitchen.

© Courtesy of respective publishers

SHARE:

The season of new beginnings is the perfect time to shake up your cooking routine. Whether you’re a baker, cocktail lover, looking to explore another culture’s cuisine, or just want a few new ideas for Sunday dinner, these eight books, chosen from the slew of new spring titles, will get you out of your kitchen rut. From vintage dessert recipes to explorations of Cuban, Gujarati, and classic French specialties, read on for our favorite new food and drink books of the season.

 
Courtesy Chronicle Books

The Vintage Baker

This charming collection of throwback recipes by Jessie Sheehan, inspired by a longtime obsession with vintage recipe booklets from the early 1900s through the 70s, contains more than 50 recipes for classic desserts, tweaked for today’s palates. Behold molasses doughnuts updated with a chocolate-ginger glaze; almond flour used to heighten the flavor of butter cookies; lime juice drizzled to add zest to a traditional blackberry pie; and ladyfingers garnished with an herbal note, care of a bit of fresh thyme. It’s a delight for any baker.

Available in May from Chronicle Books; $25; chroniclebooks.com.

Courtesy Phaidon

Room for Dessert

Chef Will Goldfarb’s debut, named after his boundary-pushing restaurant Room for Dessert, looks back on the culinary master’s 20-plus-year career. The celebrated pastry chef, a former James Beard Award nominee, Starchef “Rising Star,” and soon-to-be guest on Netflix’s Chef’s Table, takes readers through his time at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and early years cooking his way through Europe. The book also touches on his short-lived Manhattan restaurant Room 4 Dessert; a battle with cancer; and his ultimate relocation to Bali, where he now runs the second incarnation of Room 4 Dessert. The recipes are complicated, but this isn’t necessarily a collection of desserts to serve at your next dinner party; it’s a retrospective of a master's work.

Available April 6 from Phaidon; $60; phaidon.com.

Courtesy Phaidon

Cuba

The latest in Phaidon’s excellent series highlighting country-specific cuisine, Cuba is a detailed look at the island’s culinary identity, also examining the history and evolution of its food over successive waves of immigration and colonization. From the ingredients and techniques of the native population to the influence of the Spanish colonists, the French immigrants responsible for Cuba's many coffee and cocoa plantations, and later the Chinese immigrants who made rice a staple, nothing is left out. This comprehensive book of recipes runs from stuffed arepas to a classic frita (Cuban hamburger), with a full glossary of Cuban ingredients and cooking techniques.

Available in June from Phaidon; $50; phaidon.com.

Courtesy Penguin Random House

Drinking Distilled

This thorough guide to drinking, from the foremost expert on the subject Jeffrey Morgenthaler (writer, bartender, and Clyde Common bar manager) covers about every aspect of imbibing; from etiquette to a thorough breakdown of cocktail families and how to assemble the perfect traveling bar kit. The book is truly a collection of everything Morgenthaler learned over his twenty-plus years as a cocktail expert and an essential handbook for every kind of drink enthusiast.  

Available April 10 from Penguin Random House; $17; penguinrandomhouse.com.

Courtesy Penguin Random House

River Café

London’s River Café has long been one of the city’s most celebrated Italian restaurants. Influencing a generation of cooks, restaurateurs, and diners, it also launched the careers of some of the world’s most well-known chefs—April Bloomfield, Jamie Oliver, and Theo Randall (to name a few). This beautifully designed book takes an informative peek into the beloved restaurant’s history and most popular recipes, from pasta and soups to the slow-cooked tomato sauces that make up its simple, elegant Italian menu.

Available April 10 from Penguin Random House; $40; penguinrandomhouse.com.

Courtesy Penguin Random House

My Lisbon

Lisbon has become the travel world’s darling in recent years thanks to its stunning architecture, cutting-edge art, homegrown fado music, and most of all—its incredible food. Lisbon-native Nuno Mendes, who spent most of his career at the helm of several widely acclaimed London restaurants, examines those traditions in this loving ode to his home city. Within its glossy pages, he breaks down common ingredients, cooking techniques, and offers up his favorite Portuguese classics, from custard and cinnamon tarts (nata) to caldeirada (fish stew) and bifana (pork sandwiches with chourico butter).

Available April 24 from Penguin Random House; $35; penguinrandomhouse.com.

Courtesy Macmillan

Fresh India

Meera Sodha tackles the vegetable-heavy cuisine of her family’s native Gujarat region in the follow-up book to her popular volume Made in India. The collections 130 recipes are broken into chapters focused on individual vegetables, salads, legumes, rice, eggs & cheese, bread, pickles & chutneys, and sweets, showcasing a full range of the area’s vibrant food. (Think recipes like spinach, tomato, and chickpea curry; paneer, mango, and tamarind salad; and lemon rice with peanuts and curry leaves.) The book is the perfect choice for vegetarians, those seeking to cut down on their meat consumption, or cooks merely looking to immerse themselves in Gujarati cuisine.

Available May 15 from Macmillan; $35; macmillan.com.

Courtesy Abrams

The Cook’s Atelier

Since 2008, mother and daughter duo Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini have taught legions of would-be chefs to cook at their school in Beaune, Burgundy. In this, their first cookbook, they’ve brought their collective teaching experience to the page, guiding the reader through classic French recipes like plum tarte tatin, watermelon and vineyard peach salad, and baby leek galettes with goat cheese and wild garlic.

Available April 10 from Abrams; $45; abramsbooks.com.

Explore More in Books

tout-img

Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Hungry Ghosts’ Graphic Novels in Development as TV Series

tout-img

CNN's New Book "Anthony Bourdain Remembered" Celebrates the World Traveler One Year After His Untimely Death

tout-img

An Artist Turned a Dead Tree Into a 'Magical' Neighborhood Library—And It's Big Enough to Walk Into


Marketing Events & Promotions

Become a DEPARTURES VIP

Join our Weekly Newsletter

Privacy Statement
Join our Weekly Newsletter
Departures Logo Created with Sketch.
  • City Guides
  • Travel
  • Fashion
  • Art + Culture
  • Home + Design
FOLLOW US
Other Meredith Corporation Travel & Leisure Group websites: 
  • Travel + Leisure
  • Food & Wine
  • Wallpaper
Related Websites for DEPARTURES International Editions:
  • DEPARTURES-International.com
Learn more about the American Express Platinum Card® benefits

View Terms of Service  and  Privacy Statement.   Ad Choices EU Data Subject Requests All users of our online services subject to Privacy Statement and agree to be bound by Terms of Service. Please review.

© 2019 American Express Company. All rights reserved. Departures® is published by Meredith Corporation Travel & Leisure Group, a subsidiary of Meredith Corporation. Departures is a trademark of
American Express Marketing & Development Corp. and is used under limited license. Meredith Corporation Travel & Leisure Group is not affiliated with American Express Company or its subsidiaries.

  • RSS
  • Advertise
  • Advertise
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Promotions
  • Site Map

Member Login

The current issue of DEPARTURES is available exclusively to American Express Platinum Card® Members.

Cancel