The Spiaggia Cookbook: Eleganza Italiana In Cucina

Rating:
Summary: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BOOK!!!
Review: I was given this book as a gift for the holidays. I was immediately impressed with the photos, which made my mouth water. Chef Mantuano recipes make me want to eat at Spiaggia more often. This book will make a terrific gift or a perfect way to treat yourself if you enjoy food.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Book / New Ideas for Italian Cooking
Review: This book has absolutely gorgeous photography and has simply delicious recipes. Great source guide for hard to find product.



Rating:
Summary: Another Pretty Italian Restaurant Cookbook. Too Expensive
Review: `The Spiaggia Cookbook' by Tony and Cathy Mantuano is a Chicago Italian restaurant cookbook that aspires to be more than a souvenir of one's visit to the restaurant. The challenge to the reviewer is against what standard do we measure this book. The two which come to mind are Chicago's `Tru' by Rick Tramonto and `the Babbo Cookbook' by premier New York Italian chef / restaurateur Mario Batali.

For starters, the Spiaggia book begins with Foreword by Chicago real estate and restaurant developer, Larry Levy who touts the Mantuanos for filling Levy's prime real estate at the head of Chicago's Golden Mile in a big new building with a classy restaurant which brings to life the Italian cuisine on the shores of Lake Michigan. This is only fitting, as `spiaggia' means `shore' in Italian. Mr. Levy celebrates the number of culinary celebrities that have dined at Spiaggia and found it good. Tony Mantuano follows with an introduction that recounts the year he and his wife spent in Italy staging at several restorantes and trattoria in preparation for the opening of Spaggia. The Intro also sings the usual hymns to fresh ingredients and authentic Italian dishes. I confess this kind of literary glad-handing never really impresses me except that it sets the stage for what the author is attempting to do with their book.

Let me get the comparison to `Tru' out of the way quickly by saying that I would never recommend the `Tru' cookbook to anyone looking for a collection of handy recipes, as it is high end French technique with a huge dollop of Charlie Trotter / Thomas Keller innovation thrown in. In fact, I rate Tramonto's communicating his techniques superior to fellow Chicago chef Trotter. The Mantuanos, on the other hand do stay true to classic Italian techniques, if not necessarily Italian dishes. Therefore, for a lower price, `Tru' gives more high faluttin' technique for the buck, if that is what you want.

`The Spiaggia Cookbook' and Batali's `The Babbo Cookbook' are exactly the same list price; however, Mario gives us 300 pages of recipes from the beginning of the antipasto chapter to the end of the Dolci chapter. The Mantuanos give us 150 pages for the same price. With regard to how `Italian' the recipes may be, I find it very odd to find recipes in `The Spiaggia Cookbook' calling for Japanese Kobe beef, Russian sevruga caviar, and French foie gras. In contrast, Mario strictly follows his philosophy of giving us recipes exactly as done in his restaurant, with true Italian ingredients, and, ingredients which are practically local to New York such as fiddlehead ferns from New England and New Orleans shrimp.

`The Spiaggia Cookbook' makes much fuss over their Italian wines and local wines based on Italian grapes, yet the book gives us nothing on matching wines to the dishes. Mario also gives us no wine pairings, but then he doesn't run on about it in his book. Both books are organized according to the traditional courses in the Italian meal. These are antipasti, Primi (pasta, risotto, and soup), Secondi (main courses), Formaggi (cheese), and Dolci (desserts). I give Spiaggia extra points for giving us the titles of all their recipes in the Table of Contents at the front of the book. Regarding the layout of the recipe writing, I much prefer the Babbo style with numbered steps. It is simply much easier to follow by remembering you have finished step 4 and need to go on to step 5 rather than balancing a ruler on the page to mark your place in the text. I also found the conceit of two circles to punctuate some important sentences as a waste of printing costs. They distract more than they highlight.

As far as the actual technique in the two books, I personally prefer Mario's recipes as I simply thing they are more genuinely Italian. As neither I nor Ruth Reichl can seem to get a reservation at Babbo, I like the idea that I can reproduce their recipes, but as an amateur student of Italian cuisine, I like it more that I can get real Italian and Italian style cooking in Babbo while I do not trust that the Mantuanos are giving us the genuine article. Spiaggia and Babbo have very few recipes in common, but both give us the recipe for potato gnocchi. Spiaggia roasts their potatoes and mixes potatoes, egg, and flour in a bowl. Babbo boils the potatoes with skins on and mixes potato, flour, and egg using the classic `well' or `fountain' method. As most Italians historically did not have ovens, I tend to believe the Babbo method is closer to the traditional method. This consideration may mean little to people who have eaten at Spiaggia and were impressed by the experience. But, for those of us who buy cookbooks and have no plans to be in Chicago in the near future, I think that for the price, this book does not measure up to the five star standard in Italian restaurant cookbooks.

This is a good book, but there are better high-end Italian restaurant cookbooks to be had. I agree with other reviewers who praise the look of the book, but it is simply not 'best in show'.