Synopses & Reviews
From Tom Colicchio, chef/co-owner of New Yorks acclaimed Gramercy Tavern, comes a book that profiles the food and philosophy of Craft, his unique restaurant in the heart of New Yorks Flatiron district, and winner of the 2002 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America. From its food to its architecture and menu design, Craft has been celebrated for its courageous movement away from culinary theatrics and over-the-top presentations, back to the simple magic of great food.
Realizing that his own culinary style had grown increasingly unembellished, and gambling that New York diners were experiencing that same kind of culinary fatigue (brought on by too much “fancy food”), Colicchio set out to prove that the finest food didnt have to be the most complicated. From its opening in March 2001, Craft offered diners simple, soulful dishes centered around single ingredients that went on to shake up many peoples ideas of what “restaurant food” should be like.
Craft of Cooking leads you through Colicchios thought process in choosing raw materials—like what to look for in fresh fish, or how to choose the perfect mushroom—to show that good food is available to anyone with access to a good supermarket, farm stand, or gourmet grocery. The book also features “Day-in-the-Life-of-Craft” portraits, which offer a fascinating, behind-the-scenes glimpse at areas of the restaurant beyond the dining room. These segments allow the reader to peer into the fast-paced prep kitchen, to witness the high drama of reservations, and to get a taste of the humor and empathy necessary to serve New Yorks colorful visitors and foodies.
And then there are the recipes. Craft of Cooking presents 140 recipes that range from the simplest dish of spring peas to roasted fish; from lush but effortless braises to complex brining and curing of meat for homemade charcuterie, included to give the reader a “fly-on-the-wall” experience of visiting the Craft kitchen for themselves. Dishes are divided-like the Craft menu itself-into categories of meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes, grains, desserts, and pantry, and then further delineated by technique-roasting, braising, sautéing, etc.-with abundant suggestions and technical tips. Using Toms straightforward and friendly voice, Craft of Cooking offers recipes suited to any purpose—from a quick family meal to a festive dinner party for twelve.
As he did in his James Beard award-winning book, Think Like a Chef, Colicchio uses Craft of Cooking to teach, tell his story, and offer inspiration to cooks of any skill level. With more than 100 full-color and black-and-white photographs, Craft of Cooking is destined to become a staple of home cooks everywhere—the one “restaurant cookbook” they cant live without.
Review
"Here Colicchio offers his favorites of its 'ingredients-driven dishes': Pan-Roasted Chicken with Chicken Jus, Pan-Roasted Asparagus, Porcini in Parchment....[T]here are thoughtful explanations of technique and why the recipes work; for the more adventurous cook, there is also a selection of more elaborate or labor-intensive dishes. Mini-essays on 'Family Meal,' 'Lunch Service,' etc., provide a behind-the-scenes look at the Craft kitchen. Library Journal
Synopsis
Tom Colicchio reinvented the celebrity chef book with his award-winning Think Like a Chef (more than 31,000 copies sold). Now he's doing the same thing for the restaurant book with Craft, a look at the life and dishes of his acclaimed New York restaurant. Tom Colicchio's New York restaurant Craft is all about the food. Not food as a medium for feats of culinary sleight of hand, but foods that taste unmistakably like themselves only more so. This is simple food that's not simplistic, dishes whose purpose is to celebrate fresh, seasonal, usually local ingredients. Rarely do the 125 recipes in Craft require the skills of a professional chef, but they always call for the culinary insight of someone who knows how to bring out the essential flavor and texture of top-quality ingredients. That is what Tom Colicchio offers in Craft, along with essays that bring us behind the scenes at his restaurant, from early-morning receiving to dinner service. Like The French Laundry Cookbook, it articulates a great chef's passions and fundamental approach to the enjoyment of superb food.
Synopsis
In his follow-up to the award-winning Think Like a Chef, Colicchio takes readers behind the scenes at Craft, his James Beard Award-winning restaurant that is famous for its intriguing a la carte menu. 125 full-color photos.
Synopsis
From Tom Colicchio, chef/co-owner of New York's acclaimed Gramercy Tavern, comes a book that profiles the food and philosophy of Craft, his unique restaurant in the heart of New York's Flatiron district, and winner of the 2002 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America. From its food to its architecture and menu design, Craft has been celebrated for its courageous movement away from culinary theatrics and over-the-top presentations, back to the simple magic of great food.
Realizing that his own culinary style had grown increasingly unembellished, and gambling that New York diners were experiencing that same kind of culinary fatigue (brought on by too much "fancy food"), Colicchio set out to prove that the finest food didn't have to be the most complicated. From its opening in March 2001, Craft offered diners simple, soulful dishes centered around single ingredients that went on to shake up many people's ideas of what
"restaurant food" should be like.
Craft of Cooking leads you through Colicchio's thought process in choosing raw materials; like what to look for in fresh fish, or how to choose the perfect mushroom; to show that good food is available to anyone with access to a good supermarket, farm stand, or gourmet grocery. The book also features "Day-in-the-Life-of-Craft" portraits, which offer a fascinating, behind-the-scenes glimpse at areas of the restaurant beyond the dining room. These segments allow the reader to peer into the fast-paced prep kitchen, to witness the high drama of reservations, and to get a taste of the humor and empathy necessary to serve New York's colorful visitors and foodies.
And then there are the recipes. Craft of Cooking presents 140 recipes that range from the simplest dish of spring peas to roasted fish; from lush but effortless braises to complex brining and curing of meat for homemade charcuterie, included to give the reader a "fly-on-the-wall" experience of visiting the Craft kitchen for themselves. Dishes are divided like the Craft menu itself into categories of meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes, grains, desserts, and pantry, and then further delineated by technique; roasting, braising, sautéing, etc. with abundant suggestions and technical tips. Using Tom's straightforward and friendly voice, Craft of Cooking offers recipes suited to any purpose; from a quick family meal to a festive dinner party for twelve.
As he did in his James Beard award-winning book, Think Like a Chef, Colicchio uses Craft of Cooking to teach, tell his story, and offer inspiration to cooks of any skill level. With more than 100 full-color and black-and-white photographs, Craft of Cooking is destined to become a staple of home cooks everywhere; the one "restaurant cookbook" they can't live without.
About the Author
Tom Colicchio is the chef/co-owner of New York's celebrated Gramercy Tavern, ranked New Yorker's #1 favorite restaurant in the 2003 Zagat Survey, as well as chef/owner of Craft, the 2002 James Beard Best New Restaurant in America. Tom also received the 2000 James Beard Award for Best Chef in New York City, and a James Beard award for Best General Cookbook in 2001 for his first book, Think Like a Chef. In 2002 Colicchio opened Craftbar, a casual adjunct to Craft, CraftSteak in Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel, and introduced CraftKitchen, a line of olive oils and condiments imported from Calabria, Italy. In 2003, Colicchio opened 'wichcraft, next door to Craftbar in New York's Flatiron district, bringing Craft's ethic of simplicity and great ingredients to the ever-popular sandwich. He is married to a New York writer/filmmaker and is the father of 10-year-old Dante, who is a big fan of his father's veal-ricotta meatballs.