5 Books to Read this Month: January 2023
by David Klemt
This month’s engaging and informative book selections will help you hone your culinary, beverage, and operational skills to dial in your business.
To review the book recommendations from December 2022, click here.
Let’s jump in!
The Vegan Chinese Kitchen
Today, people have certain ideas that flash before them when they hear or read “plant based.” For many, it’s a phrase that indicates a food item is an impossible meat alternative that attempts to go beyond it’s animal counterpart, hint hint.
However, plant-based also means…plants. Just plants, that’s all. The Vegan Chinese Kitchen, Chef Hannah Che’s plant-based cookbook, dives into traditional and modern Chinese vegan cuisine. Remember, plant-based doesn’t only mean “meat alternative made with plants.” Buy here.
Tea: Wine’s Sober Sibling
Have you ever considered drinking tea as an alternative to consuming wine? I know I hadn’t until I came across this book.
There are more than 70 recipes in Tea: Wine’s Sober Sibling, several of which are Dry January-friendly. Along with best practices for restaurant operators, there are also pairings, like tea and cheese, and tea and chocolate. Grab this book and consider using tea in different ways at your restaurant or bar.
Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door: 50 American Chefs Chart Today’s Food Culture
Where is the culinary world headed in 2023? Chef Emmanuel Laroche and his colleagues have some thoughts.
From Amazon: “Emmanuel’s podcast Flavors Unknown, as well as his worldwide search for new foods and flavors, are at the core of Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door. Scores of chefs offer essential insights and entertaining observations about the food scene today—information that will be of interest to new and aspiring chefs, as well as foodies and home cooks who follow trends in restaurants and recipes. Readers will walk away from Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door with a deeper understanding ofthe minds and creative practices of famous chefs, as well as a map to begin to create sensational dishes of their own.”
Pick up Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door from Amazon.
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard of the following products: the iPod, the iPhone, and Nest thermostat. And I’m certain you realize an entire team of people was the behind the creation of those devices. Tony Fadell, the person who ran those teams is the author of Build.
You don’t have to be in tech to benefit from this book. Really, Build is about leadership, decision making, mentorship, bouncing back from failure, and more. Essentially, this helpful and informative book is “a mentor in a box.” One of the key takeaways of this book should motivate you to read it: “You don’t have to reinvent how you lead and manage.”
Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D
Author Michael Cecchi-Azzolina was the maître d’ at several of New York’s hottest restaurants for decades. Scoring reservations for some of these destinations was viewed as more important than landing a table at one of NYC’s top-tier nightclubs.
Cecchi-Azzolina tells stories of a (mostly) bygone era while also providing his take on the restaurant industry. For some, this book will be amusing and relatable. Others will find this representative of an era best left behind as we move the industry forward. Order Your Table is Ready today.