The CulinaryWoman Reading Room For Wednesday, March 29

The charms of small restaurant cookbooks

As soon as a chef gets famous or a restaurant is a big success, everyone wants to know when they’ll be publishing a cookbook. It’s expected that they’ll hire a talented photographer, perhaps sign on a writer, and put out a glossy book that reflects their accomplishments.

I own plenty of those, but I also am fond of small restaurant cookbooks. These are the kind that might be self-published, perhaps with black and white photos, but which contain the recipes for customers’ favorite dishes.

This weekend, I was re-united with the authors of a new addition to my library: Wayne Baquet Sr. and his daughter-in-law Arkesha.