This is unquestionably a gorgeous cookbook. But it's gorgeous in multiple ways.
Yes, it's beautiful in the obvious, literal sense, filled with color photographs of beautiful fresh
ingredients, gorgeous finished dishes, beautiful people - famous and otherwise - enjoying themselves, and
sparkling settings, indoors and out. Set it out on a coffee table and people will drool. It's also filled with
beautiful stories and thoughts and comments from Michael himself and the people who know him, who have enjoyed
his company and his food. But really, if all I wanted were gorgeous comments and photos of people and food and
places, I could look in any number of magazines or books of photography.
What I found the most gorgeous thing about Welcome to Michael's is that it's a real cookbook, for real
people. A lot of celebrity chef cookbooks are little but gorgeous images and nearly impossible recipes, because
they're clearly so strongly grounded in having a limitless pantry and limitless time available for cooking,
along with an army of sous chefs handling the grunt work. Not this one.
Don't get me wrong, you can search through Welcome to Michael's and find some relatively chichi dishes,
such as Risotto with Pan Seared Quail and Fois Gras, Baby Bhantrelles, and Pinot Noir Sauce. There's even a note
flagging this recipe as a save it for a special occasion "restaurant" style dish. But my point is that you have
to actively look for such recipes in this beautiful book; it's not about that sort of thing.
Most of the dishes are quality versions of things meant for everyday eating. There are plenty of recipes even
beginner cooks could handle, while teaching them more than they would find in cookbooks marketed "for beginners."
Michael really talks about the ingredients and techniques, telling you how to grill corn on the cob, cook fresh
spinach, make a basic roast chicken, turn a store-bought baguette into magic with some olive oil, herbs, and a
grill. All of it laid out in easy to follow instructions, well annotated with personal anecdotes and ideas and
helpful hints, such as how to select a lobster, or what the difference is between white and green asparagus. I
haven't made many of the recipes yet, but I knew from my first taste of one for Baby Artichokes With Parmesan,
Meyer Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, that this is a beautiful cookbook which I'm going to turn a lot less
beautiful with heavy use. It's a wonderful treasury of information and ideas meant to be tried, not admired from
a distance. So do yourself a favor, grab a copy and start browsing and cooking. You could just read it for the
stories and celebrity names and pictures, but if you're really good to yourself, you'll start making the recipes
as well. The cookbook is as welcoming to the cook as the messages inside tell us the author is to his guests.
Bon appetit.