Comments: Did you think 100 recipes from New York chefs would be simple? They are not. Even some of the salads have 15 to 20 ingredients. This collection of 39 New York chefs (and their restaurants and recipes) are subdivided by region and cooking approach:
- New American – Gramercy Tavern: Michael Anthony, August: Tony Liu, Town at the Chambers Hotel: Geoffrey Zakarian, Davidburke & Donatella: Eric Hara, Union Square Café: Carmen Quagliata, Annisa: Anita Lo
- Italian – Abboccato: Jim Botsacos, Barolo Restaurant: Patrick Nuti, Centro Vinoteca: Anne Burrell, Insieme: Marco Canora, Scarpetta: Scott Conant, Gemma: Chris D’Amico
- Urban Country – Irving Mill: John Schaefer, Allen & Delancy: Neil Ferguson, Market Table: Mikey Price, The Little Owl: Joey Campanaro, Blue Smoke: Kenny Callaghan, Salt: Melissa O'Donnell
- French – Artisinal and Picholine: Terrance Brennan, LandMarc: Marc Murphy, Fleur de Sel: Cyril Renaud, Café des Artistes: George Lang, Tocqueville: Marco Moreira
- Classic American – Bridge Café: Joseph Kunst, Telepan: Bill Telepan, Beacon: Waldy Malouf, Porter House New York: Michael Lomanaco
- Mediterranean and Iberian – Casa Mono: Andy Nusser, Molyvos: Jim Botsacos, Alfama, Fine Portuguese Cuisine: Mark Twersky, Pamplona: Alex Urena, Periyali: Jimmy Henderson
- "Specialty Cuisines" (Mexican, raw food, North African, oceanic, Lebanese, and pan-Asian) – Crema Restaurant: Julieta Ballesteros, Pure Food and Wine: Neal Harden, Nomad: Jose Salgado, Oceana: Ben Pollinger, Ilili: Philippe Massoud, Tao New York: Sam Hazen
Are these the city's best chefs? They certainly are among the best chefs, but if you were to compile a list of New York's best chefs, clearly there are many names missing.
Each chef is profiled, reveals his or her favorite comfort food and kitchen tool, and launches into two or three recipes, which may be classics, may be fancy, may be reasonably plain, but most of which include a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps. Some dishes look fabulous and all will teach you something.
There are a few points that are confusing. For instance, surely you don’t serve the body of the lobster in the lobster cocktail – just the claws, knuckles, and tail that you separated, right? There is no meat in the body. Is the celery root puree celery or celery root? And the statement, "you won't break the bank using 1 ounce of foie gras" only makes sense in the world of chefs. Where are the rest of us going to get 1 ounce of foie gras?
Otherwise you can cook like the big shots – or at least give it a sporting try!
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