Bring the World Into Your Kitchen With These Michelin-Star Cookbooks
These books offer a glimpse into the culinary genius behind some of the world's best restaurants.
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In 1889, auto industry magnates Andre and Edouard Michelin came up with an innovative marketing tool to sell tires: they began publishing travel guides and maps to promote road tourism. By the 1920s, the guide had evolved from an advertising ploy into an authoritative dining guide. The brothers seized the opportunity and hired a team of “mystery diners” who secretly reviewed restaurants and awarded stars to the best of them. Today, Michelin guides remain a trusted source for gourmands around the globe.
Here are eight cookbooks that will help you channel the culinary genius of Michelin-star restaurateurs at home.
Overlooking the balmy waters of the French Riviera, Mirazur is chef Mauro Colagreco’s love letter to the Mediterranean Sea. The restaurant’s “frontier cuisine” reflects its location near the Franco-Italian border, where centuries of cultural interflow have forged distinct culinary traditions in the seaside town of Menton. In 2019, the American Express Global Dining Collection partner became the first non-French chef in France to earn three Michelin stars. In his cookbook, he shares 65 artfully photographed recipes shaped by ingredients found in the citrus orchards, herb gardens, and fisheries on the Côte d'Azur.
To buy: $85, barnesandnoble.com
Aska was open for less than a year when Michelin awarded the Brooklyn restaurant its first star, hailing it “a kitchen shimmering with intelligence.” In his debut cookbook, chef Fredrik Berselius shares his culinary journey from Sweden to New York with 85 multicourse recipes that pay homage to his Scandinavian heritage. The 240-page volume is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Elegant photographs and personal essays detail Berselius’s profound relationship with nature and how it inspires his dishes.
To buy: $60, barnesandnoble.com
Described by Michelin as a “temple to culinary ingenuity,” it’s no surprise that Alinea is Chicago’s only three-star restaurant. Chef Grant Achatz is considered a pioneer in the molecular gastronomy movement, a progressive cooking style that applies scientific principles to the preparation and presentation of food. Achatz’s bold, innovative cookbook will stretch your skills and delight your taste buds with 100 dishes and 600 recipes that showcase flavors from around the world.
To buy: $60, barnesandnoble.com
Located in a 16th-century cottage in Berkshire, England, The Fat Duck has been reimagining British cuisine for more than two decades. “I grew up in west London in an era when Britain’s gastronomic reputation was at an all-time (and largely deserved) low,” chef Heston Blumenthal writes in his debut cookbook. Today, his restaurant is one of five in the United Kingdom to receive the prestigious three-star Michelin rating. The exquisitely-illustrated Fat Duck Cookbook reveals fresh takes on classics like hot tea, lasagne, beef royal, and apple pie.
To buy: $60, barnesandnoble.com
In 2004, Noma chef René Redzepi and a group of cuisiniers wrote the New Nordic Food Manifesto, a revolutionary guide for sustainable and ethical food practices in the region. Today, Redzepi is considered a global pioneer in Nordic cuisine and was named one of Time magazine’s “Gods of Food” in 2013. Located on the fringe of Copenhagen’s Christiania neighborhood, Noma serves up artistic dishes made with local and foraged ingredients. Smoke, salt, and pickle your way through Denmark with more than 90 recipes from Redzepi’s kitchen.
To buy: $90, abebooks.com
Tucked away in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Manresa serves up a farm-fresh menu of contemporary California cuisine—a culinary movement that hinges on local and sustainable ingredients. In his beautifully photographed cookbook, chef David Kinch shares his favorite recipes, heavily inspired by Northern California’s land-and-seascapes. Savor the tastes of the Golden State with whimsical dishes like “Flowering Coriander Ice and Barely Cooked Tomato” and “Bundles of Lightly Smoked Vegetables and Albacore.”
To buy: $60, barnesandnoble.com
In 2012, chef duo Sarah and Evan Rich opened their namesake restaurant in San Francisco, dreaming up a menu of Californian cuisine infused with elements of their Louisiana and New Jersey roots. In their first cookbook, the Riches share 85 mouthwatering bites from their restaurant and home kitchen. Whip up a signature cocktail and invoke the Golden City with porcini doughnuts, fresh pasta dough, grilled strip steak, and homemade ice cream.
To buy: $35, barnesandnoble.com
Housed in a 100-year-old stone cottage in the Napa Valley, The French Laundry is one of 14 U.S. restaurants to receive a three-star Michelin rating for its pairing of “incredibly classic French techniques with wildly fresh ingredients.” Flambé and sauté your own haute cuisine with 150 recipes and cooking techniques straight from chef Thomas Keller’s kitchen, from savory canapés to heavenly desserts.
To buy: $54, barnesandnoble.com
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