Art Garfunkel famously keeps track of the books he has read since 1968. As of writing this, the count is 1327 (he does not add a review). I thought I could do something similar but I am adding short reviews of books as I read them, and I rake my brain over what I read over the last decades. This is, evidently, a work-in-progress: there are 566 reviews so far. Titles marked with a * are particular favorites.
Anthony Bourdain: Les Halles Cookbook *
Although I rarely cook from this book, it is a testament to the great man and a New York that is probably fading away all too fast. Anthony’s New York was gritty and exciting: now the brasserie is gone as well. But he was a fabulous writer in his own way, and this cookbook has much great writing and reflection on things. And photos that perfectly catch the whole vibe. The recipes are OK, a certain style of what he says is not haute cuisine but the food of the little brasserie on the corner where they still do things the old way: you know, the place that we look for, but never quite find.