Product Description

When restaurateur Keith McNally and co-chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson opened Balthazar in 1997, it immediately became one of the hottest restaurants in the country. Famous for its star-studded clientele, a beautiful room in the chic SoHo neighborhood, and superbly executed food, Balthazar has been embraced by New Yorkers and visitors alike for its perfect evocation of a French brasserie.

The Balthazar Cookbook captures that energy, that style, and that cuisine, with recipes for the most-loved and most-accessible French dishes: seafood ranging from the ultra-simple Moules à la Marinière to more ambitious Bouillabaisse; chicken and game favorites that include Coq au Vin and Cassoulet; red-meat classics such as Braised Short Ribs and Blanquette de Veau; sides like the perfect French Fries or sublime Macaroni Gratin; and finales that include Crème Brûlée and Chocolate Pot de Crème. This is the best of French cooking, from one of the best-loved French restaurants in the country.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137417 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-28
• Released on: 2003-10-28
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Whether or not readers are familiar with Balthazar, Manhattan's booming, six-year-old brasserie, they're in for a delight. The restaurant's cookbook lifts the lid on the essence of French brasserie cooking, unearthing the secrets to making a deliciously sharp, perfectly melted gratin (use Swiss GruyŠre, Emmentaler or Comt,); frying french fries (fry them once to cook them thoroughly, then again to crisp the exterior); burnishing sugar atop a creme br-lee (it should "crack like thin ice"); and more. Art critic Hughes paints a brilliant portrait of Balthazar in his foreword, marveling at the unbelievable quantity of ingredients Balthazar tears through (40 pounds of mushrooms a day; 30 pounds of garlic a week) and the staff's ability to hide the kitchen's pressure cooker-like atmosphere from diners: "out on the floor it's all politeness, smiles, and yes-sir-no-sir, while backstage it's Jesus, where is it, get that fucking stuff over here, and where's the goddamn morels?" Home chefs need not be so stressed, as the authors (McNally owns the place; Nasr and Hanson are chefs) present clear and simple recipes for such classics as Salade Nicoise, Steak Tartare, Bouillabaisse, Coq au Vin, Duck Confit, Cassoulet and Steak Frites. Injecting a touch of humor (Frisee aux Lardons, normally a meal unto itself, could make a first course "for those who believe strongly in bacon fat"), the authors explain techniques, such as shucking oysters and cleaning leeks, and more obscure ingredients, such as Japanese bread crumbs and fines herbes. Like its food, Balthazar's cookbook is uncomplicated, elegant and timeless. 100 color, 40 b&w photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Inside Flap Copy
When restaurateur Keith McNally and co-chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson opened Balthazar in 1997, it immediately became one of the hottest restaurants in the country. Famous for its star-studded clientele, a beautiful room in the chic SoHo neighborhood, and superbly executed food, Balthazar has been embraced by New Yorkers and visitors alike for its perfect evocation of a French brasserie.

The Balthazar Cookbook captures that energy, that style, and that cuisine, with recipes for the most-loved and most-accessible French dishes: seafood ranging from the ultra-simple Moules à la Marinière to more ambitious Bouillabaisse; chicken and game favorites that include Coq au Vin and Cassoulet; red-meat classics such as Braised Short Ribs and Blanquette de Veau; sides like the perfect French Fries or sublime Macaroni Gratin; and finales that include Crème Brûlée and Chocolate Pot de Crème. This is the best of French cooking, from one of the best-loved French restaurants in the country.

About the Author
KEITH MCNALLY has owned such famed New York City hotspots as the Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Nell’s, as well as his current restaurants, Balthazar, Pravda, Pastis, Lucky Strike, and Schiller’s Liquor Bar. RIAD NASR and LEE HANSON are co-chefs at Balthazar, Pastis, and Schiller’s Liquor Bar. The lot of them live in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Book for a chef
This is a gorgeous cookbook, with delicious recipes. While some of the recipes are straight forward and easy, most are quite complex, with many steps and lots of ingredients. And while I have a very well stocked pantry, I could not find the ingedients needed in my local grocery store or fish market or gourmet store for some of the recipes. Everything that I have made has been delicious, and seasoned perfectly. This is a cookbook for serious cooks.

A Great collection of classic cafe fare...
This cookbook is for the person who loves French cafés in general, and Balthazar in specific. In France, cafés are everywhere, and they are the center of social life much the same way as pubs are in England - the difference is that the food at the average English pub is terrible and the food at the average French café is great. Menus may vary from café to café, but there are certain standard items that they tend to have in common. Many consider Balthazar the best French café in New York. The irony is that - in France - cafés are informal and inexpensive places, whereas Balthazar is expensive, usually requires reservations, and almost has a celebrity or two eating there. What makes Balthazar a café is that it serves all the standard café fare, but with it's own unique touch.

What makes The Balthazar Cookbook so great is that it is a compendium of all the classic café items: "Steak Frites," "Moules a la Mariniere," and "Escargots with Garlic Butter," just to name a few. These aren't run-of-the-mill recipes, but Balthazar's own special ones. This is both the book's virtue and its vice. This is not a cookbook for the novice chef. Most of the recipes are fabulously complicated. It assumes that you have the basic skills of cooking as it does not go over simple procedures. It assumes that you have a well-stocked kitchen because many of the recipes call for specialized hardware like Dutch ovens and candy thermometers. It also assumes that you have access to hoity-toity gourmet food stores where you can get all of their obscure ingredients.

I attempted the basic café dish: Steak Frites. The steak was no problem as it is just grilled. What makes this special is the herb butter Balthazar puts on top. I cheated and used bottled sage and chives instead of fresh, and it still came out pretty good. The French fries proved more difficult as they require a thermometer to tell you when the peanut oil (I substituted vegetable) reaches EXACTLY 370 degrees for the first frying and 380 degrees for the second. I didn't have a thermometer so I guessed - the result was that they were nowhere near as good as the fries at Balthazar, which could be the best in the city. With fries you need mayonnaise. I had two failed attempts at making mine in the food processor (as they suggest) before moving on to the blender, which worked fine.

In the end, this is an excellent cookbook. It's only problem is that, for casual food, it takes a LOT of preparation.

Not great
Sorry-- I don't know what people are raving about. I am an avid epicurean, and have gone to most good restaurants in NY. I just don't think Balthazar's recipes or food holds a candle to other NY institutions, like Gotham, Gramercy, etc. The food at and recipes from Balthazar always tastes a little too greasy and unrefined given how many steps are involved. Sorry, that's just my personal opinion after making almost ten of the Balthazar recipes.