A Private Chef: Four Star Cooking in Your Home

Rating:
Summary: Shear Genius in Presentation
Review: I enjoyed the stories Joe shared in his book. I have tried some of the recipes and I cannot believe I actually made the dish. Great stuff. I have thrown a multitude of parties and Joe has been part of some of them. I would start out with the basic and all of a sudden it was transformed to a breathtaking event. People would ask, how did you do that? I just smiled.

After reading Joe's book, I began to understand that you have to have a love of food and people to accomplish what he does. He is a true artist at work.

Enjoyed the stories of where the recipes originated.

Rating:
Summary: Your dinner guests will love you...
Review: I love to cook, but am often searching for the perfect menu to serve at a dinner party. I want my guests to feel special and comfortable, but as the host I also want to be able to enjoy the festivities, rather than stressing about the preparation and scrambling to organize the meal. This cookbook offers everything I need to entertain.
First, Joe has designed meals. Traditionally in other cookbooks, we find a main entree that sounds delicious, but then are left searching for the appetizers, side dishes, and desserts to compliment the dish. Joe has taken this confusion out of the equation. Each element of the meal compliments one another. Furthermore, Joe's meals range from extravagant to casual. Whether you want to throw an intimate dinner for four or a late Sunday brunch for 12, Joe offers wonderful ideas. Additionally, once you have chosen your meal, Joe helps you organize: his "Menu Progression" gives step-by-step instructions for preparation. He explains what you need to do a week before, a day before, hours before, and during the meal. It's fantastic.
This book is also a great reference. Joe explains some of the chemistry behind cooking, including an explanation of the differences between salts and why it is important to use cold water when brewing coffee. He also gives Internet resources for buying kitchen supplies, spices, and even meat.
Finally, I enjoy reading this book. Accompanying each menu is a personal story. It is clear that Joe is passionate about "haute cuisine" and believes everyone has the ability to find their own passion in the kitchen. This book is inspiring and should be in every home cook's library.

Rating:
Summary: Your dinner guests will love you...
Review: I love to cook, but am often searching for the perfect menu to serve at a dinner party. I want my guests to feel special and comfortable, but as the host I also want to be able to enjoy the festivities, rather than stressing about the preparation and scrambling to organize the meal. This cookbook offers everything I need to entertain.
First, Joe has designed meals. Traditionally in other cookbooks, we find a main entree that sounds delicious, but then are left searching for the appetizers, side dishes, and desserts to compliment the dish. Joe has taken this confusion out of the equation. Each element of the meal compliments one another. Furthermore, Joe's meals range from extravagant to casual. Whether you want to throw an intimate dinner for four or a late Sunday brunch for 12, Joe offers wonderful ideas. Additionally, once you have chosen your meal, Joe helps you organize: his "Menu Progression" gives step-by-step instructions for preparation. He explains what you need to do a week before, a day before, hours before, and during the meal. It's fantastic.
This book is also a great reference. Joe explains some of the chemistry behind cooking, including an explanation of the differences between salts and why it is important to use cold water when brewing coffee. He also gives Internet resources for buying kitchen supplies, spices, and even meat.
Finally, I enjoy reading this book. Accompanying each menu is a personal story. It is clear that Joe is passionate about "haute cuisine" and believes everyone has the ability to find their own passion in the kitchen. This book is inspiring and should be in every home cook's library.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely luscious
Review: No wonder this book had to be self-published: most of the menus provided require hours, if not days, of planning and work, the majority are not especially cheap (though many are quite reasonable), and no effort has been made to convert these exquisite dishes into low-fat monstrosities. This is true four-star cooking. While there are some very fine books on gourmet cooking within time and budget constraints, most cookbooks these days aim to let us believe we can produce first-rate food fast, cheap, and without calories. Yeah, sure. That's not the kind of cooking that dominates food-star menus!

I just love this book. Though I will never make some of the more extravagant dishes, I've made at least a dozen of these recipes, and every one has been, in the Brits' sense of the term, well brilliant.

And the writing: The author's personality shines through, and I don't know how anyone can help liking this guy. How can anyone who moves in such highfallutin' circles, someone who has trained in some of the finest restaurants in the world--and still drops in as a guest chef--be so down-to-earth and likeable? Amazing. He thanks a "ghost editor" in his preface, but the voice is of a piece with the author's whole approach to food.

Whether or not you have any interest in becoming a four star chef in general, you will find some recipes here that you'll love, that you can serve with pride and joy on special occasions.

Besides, the book is just great "food porn." Sometimes I just read the thing and salivate over the beautiful dishes.

I must own at least three dozen cookbooks, and this is probably the most fun of them all. I can heartily say that if you really love food, you ought to buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Private Chef: Four Star Cooking in Your Home by Joe O.
Review: This is the best cookbook I have ever seen!