Rating: 
Summary: A Chef's Love Affair with a Remarkable Resaurant
Review: "I was smitten on sight when I walked into Zuni in 1987." recalls Rodgers in her opening chapter, a sentiment many of her restaurant's patrons would be quick to second. "The crowd was eclectic -- young, old, middle aged, dressed up, dressed down, in noisy groups or quiet deuces. Some there for the place, some for the drinks, some for the food, some for each other. I took in the space and imagined you could eat as simply or as grandly as you wanted in this setting, and that the food would only be a part of the seduction."The casual reader is thus warned, upfront that this is not merely a treasury of time-tested recipes from one of San Francisco's most popular and enduring restaurants. Rather, it is a chronicle of a chef's love affair with a restaurant and with the cooking and eating it has allowed within its two-story window walls. Her "cooking lessons" impart her key theories on cooking and eating, such as the importance of salting early, and are full of colorful, practical technique. For instance, in her lesson on reducing stock for use in sauces, she directs the home chef to "simmer steadily and gently, uncovered, skimming impurities as they veil the surface of the reducing stock. The most efficient way to remove these evanescent "skins" is to rest the underside of a wide, flat serving spoon on them -- the veil will cling to the spoon. Lift the veil and gently pivot the spoon, so that the skin doesn't slide back into the reduction, then rinse the spoon clean. Repeat as needed. This way you discard only impurities, not precious reduction." Each of the 250 recipes has been adapted for the home cook who lacks ZuniÃs signature wood-fired oven, with some recipes, such as the Zuni hamburger, providing detailed instructions for either grill, stovetop, or broiler to ensure best results for the cook who takes on the challenge of this "labor-of-love-intensive" dish. Each recipe is additionally paired with a wine suggestion (frequently for a lesser known, California wine) from Gourmet Wine Editor Gerald Asher. Rodgers includes the iconic roasted chicken and Caesar salad recipes, as well as directions for making the many house-pickled and cured pantry items that regularly show up on Zuni dinersà plates. When a recipe stars a seasonal item of produce, such as the "salami with raw favas" appetizer, Rodgers notes the time of year in which the produce is in season, thus saving a home cook from disappointment. Rodgers goes out of her way to mention specific brands and resources for her less common ingredients, and includes 3-pages of resources for many of the pantry products she uses, plus a selected bibliography of food reference books. Unfortunately, neither the cheese course primer nor the resource list provides any leads for mail ordering cheese, which can be frustrating for a reader who, unlike Rodgers, doesn't live in a city with major artisanal cheese importers. The same disappointment holds true for the wine pairings, several of which are for small production Santa Barbara County wineries with very limited distribution. These complaints, however, are minimal in light of the scope of the technique and solid recipes within Rodgers first foray into cookbook writing. Though many of the recipes may prove to be too time- or ingredient-intensive for a novice home cook, or someone looking for a quick way to recreate a memorable meal at Zuni, the Zuni Cafe Cookbook is well worth the time both as a culinary treatise on finding the best, most flavorful foods that are in season and available to you and how to prepare those culinary finds in a manner that highlights their specialness, and as a memoir of one woman's love affair with a very special restaurant.
Rating: 
Summary: My Own Fault
Review: Alas, it's my own fault for buying a cookbook it turns out I'll probably never use. Seduced by a review in a major publication, I broke my two self-imposed rules about buying cookbooks. Never buy one by a chef and/or restaurant owner and never buy without looking first. But the review was so warm and enthusiastic, I went straight to my computer and ordered it. Would that I had read both the reviewers' and readers' comments first. Then I would have known I would not be at all interested in the first 52 pages. Having cooked simple but good food for almost half a century, there's not much I don't know about kitchen tools and basic techniques. Judy Rodgers is, indeed, a good writer, but if I want to read about one's formative years in the cooking field, I'll look for a memoir. Then, too, there's the early salting recommendation which informs many of the recipes. I strive to reduce sodium in my cooking, not increase it. Perhaps I shall give it to a daughter or daughter-in-law.
Rating: 
Summary: mmm .... mmm ... mmm
Review: I am not a trained cook. I'm not even a particularly skilled one. I'm a bumbler, a weekend culinary warrior and relatively clueless food-lover who occasionally stumbles across a cookbook that both inspires and challenges me. The Zuni Cafe is full of recipes that take the good part of a Sunday afternoon to fix, which is just fine by me. The results have been unfailingly spectacular--simple, unfussy food that knocks your socks off. (The Mock Porcetta, Roast Chicken Bread Salad and Cod with Potatoes represent 3 of the most delicious meals that have ever come out of my humble kitchen.) Best of all, every time I use this book I feel like I learn something new--about a technique or about an ingredient. It's actually made me a better cook. That said, I rarely consult this cookbook unless I am planning a special meal and have a fair amount of time on my hands. For everyday feeding the household-type fare, I often turn to a more comprehensive reference like Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Not another restaurant cookbook
Review: I have just become Judy Roger's biggest fan! The Zuni Cafe Cookbook is not another cookbook about artfully-presented, impossible-to-duplicate-at-home restaurant food. It is full of the food we all want to eat when we come home from a stressful day at work. Judy's recipes make it possible. The Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey and Vinegar is just the kind of meal that, once made, you look forward to the leftovers for the rest of the week! All the recipes I have made from her book have become standards in my repertoire. They are the sort of things that you want to make again and again -- like the rosemary grilled chicken livers with bacon, just the thought of them makes me want to rush home and start cooking. I have only just begun working my way through this book, but the results are so great that I have told my friends: "We will be eating well all year long at my house!"
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone
Review: I love this cookbook, but I understand why some other readers are having a tough time with it. This cookbook would be best for the professional chef, or the serious home cook with skills in fine cooking (not only good home cooking). You have to care about the details to make this food special. It would also help to be a committed foodie. Some key ingredients are hard to find, and usually available only to professional chefs. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I shop in the food mecca of Berkeley, and even I would have trouble finding some of the ingredients. There are reasons why this is restaurant food that people spend big bucks for to go out and eat. If you have skill in fine cooking, if you love to cook for recreation and for art, and if you like this kind of California Mediterranean food, you would probably enjoy this cookbook. It is extremely well-written and thought out. So far I've tried 16 recipes from this cookbook, with excellent results. (Note: I've taken many cooking classes over the years and I've worked as a prep assistant for some great local chefs, so that's my skill level.) Judy Rodgers and her editor have made every effort to convey her signature recipes and deserve applause for that. I think this a great cookbook, a classic cookbook, but not for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Smart, beautiful, revolutionary
Review: I read this book like a novel. The well written chapters at the beginning gave me a deeper understanding of how to realize quality and flavour from food - just like what I am used to having at Zuni. And the recipes will inevitibly be among my most used.
Rating: 
Summary: I'll Make 10% of These Recipes
Review: I received this cookbook as a gift from someone who thought it was about Southwestern cooking (as in Zuni Indians - actually, the food is mostly Mediterranean). I am not in the restaurant or food business, nor am I a personal friend of the author's.
Undoubtedly, Zuni Café is a wonderful restaurant experience. But, if like me, you are a home cook with limited access to quail, various imported Italian goodies, and glasswort, etc., etc., etc., forget this book. Much of it is just too dang precious.
Precious also is the language. Like the author, I have spent significant time in France and speak French at near-native level. However, I really question her use of French (sometimes Italian)when English will do - example: "restes" for leftovers. The impression is one of insecurity or a need to elevate herself and her recipes.
The book is a giant step backwards to someone like Narcisse Chamberlain - eurocentric cooking for Americans.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully Written and Wonderfully Informative Cookbook!
Review: I will admit that maybe I am not the ordinary cookbook purchaser. My cookbooks are bought for comfort and general knowledge as much a for hands-on recipes; I read them to lull myself to sleep. But this book is not solely for those as obsessed as I. It also provides recipes for the cook who is willing to work moderately hard to produce extraordinately good, hardy, and interesting food. Page after page is loaded with information, a tip and guideline for everyday cooking on each page. The recipes require little else than a bit of enterprise and a willingness to work for your meal. And let me tell you, it's worth it. The book is a wealth of imformation. Judy Rodgers holds nothing back. She does not simply give you the way she prepares her oysters, but rather a story on her first oyster, an explanation on how, where, and when to pick them, a thorough run-through of oyster classification, the way to shuck them, and a simple method of serving. Five pages. Seven pages on her theory and stories behind duck confit. Fifty-seven pages on introductory cooking technique and theory. Judy Rodgers focuses on simple (some may disagree with me about that) French, Italian, and Mediteranean food with a light-handed California touch. "This book gives the cook and the reader two accessible temptations: to read from cover to cover, and to cook from cover to cover." Too true. The recipes are wonderfully hearty and simple. "Mock Porcetta" (a simple herby pork roast) is great for any small dinner party. "Zuni Salt-Cured Anchovies" are a fun but not extreme break from what most would consider ordinary and a great jump-off point to begin experimentation. "Beef Carpaccio and Four Ways to Serve It" is an elegantly fresh way to start off a small dinner party, and likewise, so is "Rosemary-Grilled Chicken Livers and Bacon With Balsamic-Onion Marmalade Toasts." "Asparagus and Rice Soup with Pancetta and Black Pepper," her ricotta gnocchi, her CHAPTER on eggs. They are all wonderful. This is a lovely book. But I do have a few small complaints. Though this may seem frivolous, I was vexed by the deficit of photos, an element I find to be nearly imperitive in a fun cookbook. As well, some of her views on food, such as her not being crazy about rich desserts sadly carries out in the number of like recipes. Though some might say that this book is not for the faint-hearted chef, I would say that it is such a chef's fault and not the author's. This book welcomes anyone who is willing to cross away from just "conviency cooking" for boring sustenance. Zuni Cafe Cookbook transcends that idea. It is a great cookbook. So well worth the ONLY 25 DOLLARS.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully Written and Wonderfully Informative Cookbook!
Review: I will admit that maybe I am not the ordinary cookbook purchaser. My cookbooks are bought for comfort and general knowledge as much a for hands-on recipes; I read them to lull myself to sleep. But this book is not solely for those as obsessed as I. It also provides recipes for the cook who is willing to work moderately hard to produce extraordinately good, hardy, and interesting food. Page after page is loaded with information, a tip and guideline for everyday cooking on each page. The recipes require little else than a bit of enterprise and a willingness to work for your meal. And let me tell you, it's worth it. The book is a wealth of imformation. Judy Rodgers holds nothing back. She does not simply give you the way she prepares her oysters, but rather a story on her first oyster, an explanation on how, where, and when to pick them, a thorough run-through of oyster classification, the way to shuck them, and a simple method of serving. Five pages. Seven pages on her theory and stories behind duck confit. Fifty-seven pages on introductory cooking technique and theory. Judy Rodgers focuses on simple (some may disagree with me about that) French, Italian, and Mediteranean food with a light-handed California touch. "This book gives the cook and the reader two accessible temptations: to read from cover to cover, and to cook from cover to cover." Too true. The recipes are wonderfully hearty and simple. "Mock Porcetta" (a simple herby pork roast) is great for any small dinner party. "Zuni Salt-Cured Anchovies" are a fun but not extreme break from what most would consider ordinary and a great jump-off point to begin experimentation. "Beef Carpaccio and Four Ways to Serve It" is an elegantly fresh way to start off a small dinner party, and likewise, so is "Rosemary-Grilled Chicken Livers and Bacon With Balsamic-Onion Marmalade Toasts." "Asparagus and Rice Soup with Pancetta and Black Pepper," her ricotta gnocchi, her CHAPTER on eggs. They are all wonderful. This is a lovely book. But I do have a few small complaints. Though this may seem frivolous, I was vexed by the deficit of photos, an element I find to be nearly imperitive in a fun cookbook. As well, some of her views on food, such as her not being crazy about rich desserts sadly carries out in the number of like recipes. Though some might say that this book is not for the faint-hearted chef, I would say that it is such a chef's fault and not the author's. This book welcomes anyone who is willing to cross away from just "conviency cooking" for boring sustenance. Zuni Cafe Cookbook transcends that idea. It is a great cookbook. So well worth the ONLY 25 DOLLARS.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best cookbooks I've ever had
Review: I've made several recipes from this cookbook and find it to be one of the consistently best cookbooks I've ever used. The recipes are very easy, well described, and turn out delicious. Every time I try a new recipe, I am so pleased with the results that I'm excited to try another one. No other cookbook is like that.
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