Hubert Keller's Christmas in Alsace

August 1, 2012

You may know Keller (Burger Bar: Build Your Own Ultimate Burgers) from his Michelin-starred restaurant Fleur de Lys in San Francisco or from Top Chef Masters Season 1, where he famously used a dorm-room shower to cool pasta. His international career--from his childhood in Alsace to the present--is the subject of this biographical cookbook (written with food writer Wisner), which includes classic and modern dishes, from Henri's Bread Pudding (made with cherries and brioche) to an intricate Crab and Avocado Salad with Watermelon Gazpacho. VERDICT This inspiring cookbook will please readers who enjoy accounts of restaurant careers like Jacques Pepin's The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen or Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's Becoming a Chef.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
Part memoir, part cookbook, French celebrity chef Keller's follow-up to his inimitable Burger Bar (2009) is a surprisingly broad collection of both recipes and anecdotes that highlight a sort of greatest hits of Keller's life. Although he is now a highly lauded chef in the U.S., starring on Bravo's Top Chef Masters, among other TV programs, Keller began his career humbly working away as a boy in his father's pastry shop in Alsace, France. It's here that his story (and recipes) begins. From each milestone in his life, which includes an apprenticeship at a top restaurant in France and time spent in South America, Keller offers a slew of relatively approachable recipes, most of which are fresh takes on traditional French cuisine, with small anecdotes that introduce each dish. Standouts include duck terrine and roasted lamb chops as well as such desserts as beignets, souffl's, and an assortment of milkshakes. And although readers will surely rush to the kitchen to cook away, they may be left hungry to know more about Keller himself.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)