Manresa: An Edible Reflection [A Cookbook]

First things first; this is a remarkable book written by a unique chef. It's easily worth the price tag. And it's a refreshing, inspiring change from most of the volumes hitting the culinary shelves these days. For instance, it's *not* a "hot new chef book" by somebody who has run a kitchen for a year or two and who is now trying to parley his 15 minutes of fame into a half hour. Instead, chef/author David Kinch has been at the stove for more than three decades in Louisiana, New York, California and Europe, and he knows exactly what he's talking about. It's *not* a "TV chef book" by somebody more attuned to staring into the camera while flashing a mouthful of shiny white teeth than focusing on the precise but natural-looking plates going out of his kitchen. To my knowledge, Chef Kinch's only foray into the wild, wild world of the Food Network was back in 2009, when he thoroughly kicked Bobby Flay's butt in Battle Cabbage on Iron Chef America. Rather than jump on the fabled media bandwagon after that experience, Chef Kinch went back to what he intimately knows and loves - his restaurant, and all that it involves. And it's *not* a "coffee table cookbook," meant simply to look great in your living room this holiday season. Yes, on first gaze, it looks that way. Oversized ... check. Texturally-correct abalone shell on the cover ... check. Absolutely killer photographs (from Eric Wolfinger) sprinkled here, there & everywhere ... check. But it's *way* more than that. This is the rare culinary treatise that embodies so much more than recipes. It encompasses Chef Kinch's philosophies (insofar as things like these can be captured by the written word) about food, nature, cooking, hospitality, technology, professionalism, respect (in all its relevant guises), mentoring the next generation of chefs, etc. It's an ode to his 11 year old restaurant, Manresa, and his life in the industry. I've dined at Manresa several times (and enjoyed Chef Kinch's hospitality at Sent Sovi - his previous restaurant - well over a decade ago). But don't think that I'm just raving about the book because I've been to the restaurant. If anything, my firsthand experiences only increased my expectations for the book. Clearly, I needn't have worried. You should understand upfront that Chef Kinch's recipes weren't designed for home cooks or home kitchens. This is Michelin-starred stuff folks, presented the way they do it at Manresa. Indeed, to me, the recipes are included primarily because they are necessary to tell the story of the chef and the restaurant. That some folks will want to duplicate the food at home, I think, is necessarily secondary. For most of us mere kitchen mortals, some of the recipes are inspirational; we may never be able to exactly reproduce them, but we can still take from them pearls of wisdom for use in our own cooking. Now, does that mean it's impossible to make all of these recipes at home even if you are a reasonably skilled home cook with a well-outfitted home kitchen? No, of course not; some are really pretty simple. But you need to recognize that many recipes require time and attention to detail. Many include obscure or not easily sourced ingredients, too, but for me, that's part of the book's charm. It speaks directly to Chef Kinch's desire to make Manresa distinctive while still focusing on the local, the seasonal, the best of what's available to him. If you really want to cook from this book, read the recipes carefully before you step into the kitchen ... heck, before you even think about heading to the market. Then you'll know which ones your kitchen, local markets and cooking skill level can accommodate and which ones you can dream about eating at Manresa. The bulk of Chef Kinch's recipes shun flashy, high tech gizmos (like Pacojets and immersion circulators) and ingredients (like hydrocolloids). He's not blind to the potential advantages technology offers culinary professionals, but at heart he's a cook's cook. As he notes in a brilliant little essay entitled, "Creativity and Technology," beginning at page 251, "what I've learned is that I want to use the best possible techniques that are right for me, whether they are ultramodern or ultratraditional." In other words, if a lamb rack cooked in a water bath no longer has the texture of lamb, why bother? Why, indeed. This book also plumbs the details of Chef Kinch's relationships with his purveyors, most especially Cynthia Sandberg's Love Apple Farms, with which Manresa has an exclusive association. These local connections with passionate folks allow Manresa to showcase the terroir of the Santa Cruz Mountains foothills in an utterly unique way. And, boy, does he take advantage of it. In my dining experience, no other American chef distills (and refines) his locale onto the plate better than David Kinch. You usually hear the word "terroir," roughly translated as "a sense of place," in the world of fine wines, but it's certainly an apt description of what Chef Kinch relates in this book and in the Manresa dining room. And he's more than happy to share the limelight; as he so correctly notes at the end of a short piece beginning on page 9 called, "How I Met Cynthia Sandberg," "thanks to Love Apple Farms, our food tastes of nowhere else in the world." If you have any interest at all in learning what goes on in one very creative and successful culinary mind when it comes to developing dishes and menus, please read, "Building a Dish: 1, 2, 3" (p. 163) and "Building a Menu," (p. 191). Really ... I mean it. Even if you have to borrow somebody else's copy or (gasp!) sneak off to your nearest brick and mortar bookstore. In my opinion, the cookbook segment of the market has been over-saturated for years, and so it's rare and gratifying to find a book like this one that both informs and resonates without sounding preachy or holier-than-thou.

And it includes the recipe for Alain Passard of L' Arpege as David Kinch executes it - Hooray! This has been a mainstay amuse bouche at Manresa for years and is a magnificent dish. Was delighted to see how the recipes are arranged with a separation for each component of a dish (RATHER than having to read down an entire list of ingredients along with the description to figure out these three ingredients go in the sauce...). The recipes are interesting and understandable. There is well written narrative explanations about Kinch's background, training, inspirations. There is an excellent "resources" section at the back for finding more unusual or hard-to-find ingredients or components. The icing on the cake is the the photography in this book - beautifully done by Eric Wolfinger. The photos and staging of the dishes (some with our local SF Bay area Annie Glass - nice touch) are memorable and carry great impact. Challenging recipes to execute for sure and if that's the case, just book a reservation at Manresa. Otherwise, try your hand at it! And if nothing else, enjoy the story and the photos. Kinch has elevated the cookbook to an amazing new level worthy of his multiple Michelin-starred restaurant.

What can I say that hasn't already been said. I love to really taste food and over the course of 45 years of reading, trying, tasting and traveling it has remained an endless passion. I am not a professional chef, never worked in a restaurant but in the course of the last 45 years I cannot think of anything that has given me the pleasure of preparing or attempting to replicate something marvelous I've tasted even if it only though reading about it. Does anyone else out there taste the ingredients while they are reading a cookbook? Over the last few years, I've sort of gotten past cookbooks per se and look more for what can I say...someone who shares their love of creating and inspires. I had to laugh as I read Kinch's book as he grabbed me in the initial pages by saying he uses a digital scale rather than writing things as variable as 1 cup, etc. thanks to a collection of earlier books on pastries, bread, etc. I live in the Bay area but anywhere with access to really fresh from the farm, ocean, etc. will adore this book and be inspired. As I'm now retired I don't have to wait until the weekend any more to dive into more complicated menus...a true reward for a lifetime of having to schedule how time consuming or what lengths you could go to while fitting in a 100 other projects. Manresa: An Edible Reflection is exactly that...more like a visit with a wonderful companion who shares his affair with cooking as well as his love of the best and freshest of ingredients. While I'm totally not in his league I've gotten such pleasure from making all kinds of things from "scratch" so the idea of making my own sea salt...which might said sort of crazy...just sounds like the most fun. My last "kick" was making my own charcuterie...delicious and the difference in taste between what you bought anywhere and what you make...incredible! Loved "visiting" with Kinch, feel inspired, trying his lamb "recipe" today. Even if you love food but don't like to cook I promise you'll enjoy this beautiful book and know what you'd love to experience next. Thank you for this absolutely gorgeous love letter of a book on food...I had an absolute feast for both my eyes, taste and inspiration just reading it. This little old lady is thrilled. Thank you again.

"We kind of tie in our very being to the work that we do. ..Part of finding this balance is knowing when, when to leave." David Kinch, Manresa. From "Mind of a Chef." How can I begin to be objective about David Kinch, and about his restaurant Manresa? I came to know Manresa following the trail of Jeremy Fox after he left Charleston for the West Coast. I think the vegetable focused, micro seasonal approach of Manresa, along with its unique relationship with Love Apple Farms, played a pivotal role for Fox as he developed his own voice. A voice that would eventually earn him a Michelin star at Ubuntu, a vegetarian restaurant above a yoga studio in Napa. But I digress... Manresa's cuisine is not only beautiful, but thoughtful. Every component is there because it needs to be there, period. Consider his dish "Into the Vegetable Garden." It's been on the menu for several years, but continues to evolve on a daily basis depending upon what walks in the kitchen door from Love Apple Farms. It was inspired by Michelle Bras' "Gargouillou," a composed salad dish that includes 50-60 components. (A dish that's also been interpreted by the likes of Grant Achatz, Paul Virant and Daniel Patterson FYI.) I greatly admire David Kinch from afar. His cuisine reflects time and place. He is transparent about his sourcing, inspiration and technique. He continues to lead, teach and inspire. After a fire very nearly claimed Manresa in 2014, David took the rebuild time to plan a bakery that these days is now crushing it. This year, the culinary community eagerly looks forward to his opening of The Bywater, a casual, New Orleans themed eatery with David Morgan, a chef from John Besh's Restaurant August in NOLA. Kinch grew up in New Orleans, and counts 2 years spent at Commander's Palace among the first of his jobs at 16, so in a way, The Bywater marks a return to his past. I know it will be delicious. By now you see what I mean- it's hard to be objective about David Kinch and his restaurant Manresa. In my estimation, the Manresa cookbook is one of a handful of essential reads / purchases of the past 5 years.

I pre-ordered this book based on many things I had heard about Manressa, the restaurant. It was my kind of book. It had an admired chef, a restaurant that was drawing people to its obscure location, and new recipes for me to get my hands into. I waited months, and finally received my copy. Manressa: an Edible Reflection, falls somewhere between The French Laundry Cookbook and Grant Achez’s Alinea cookbook. In the French Laundry Cookbook, Thomas Keller’s goal is clean tastes; In Alinea, Achetz goes for a total sensory experience. David Kinch, of Manressa, focuses on terrior, or “sense of place.” Keller aims at three bites per portion, Achetz (often) at one. Kinch at two. Right there, that should tell the reader what he or she is getting into. This is not a book about casual food, nor even “fine food.” This is a book for someone who is very serious, and who appreciates and wants to experience what a driven chef has to offer. Manresssa (the book and the restaurant) is about tweezers-arranged preparations and attention, attention, attention, to detail. I found the book to be almost all of what I wanted it to be. Manressa: an Edible Reflection is an intense book. David Kinch found his epiphanic moment when he connected with Love Apple Farm, and built on that experience, taking the well worn California mantra, “buy the best available product and cook in season,” and elevating it to new levels to try to create a “sense of place” for his restaurant. Love Apple farm is not simply a purveyor, it is an interactive player where Kinch not only purchases the produce, but indicates what he wants planted. Vegetables seldom, if ever, see refrigeration. Fresh means exactly that. The same is true of his other purveyors. Their bounty powers his menu. His relationship with them is extraordinary. Although he doesn’t forage like René Redzepi, (well, not all the time) he does devote considerable energy to making vegetables sing, and puts the proteins in a different relation to the presentation than what is commonly done. The book is full of beautiful pictures and David Kinch’s text is interesting to read, at once philosophical and technical, and there is enough of his writing that the book is worth it for that alone. He is pragmatic enough to make use of any techniques and equipment that will bring him closer to producing what he feels will give the reader a sense place, of what is Manressa. He explains everything, from the butter which they make in house from locally sourced dairy products to things like infusing with peach leaves to add another dimension to an offering. So why a four and not a five? My problem with this book comes in relation to the recipes. I expected them to contain hard to find ingredients; locating places to purchase them is part of the fun of cooking at this level, and there is a list of purveyors provided. My problem is that none of the recipes have been tested or adapted to the home kitchen; all are exactly as they do them in the restaurant. Of course, it is Chef Kinch’s prerogative to do so, but in doing so, Chef Kinch has created a small but noticeable distance between himself and the reader like myself who wishes to use the recipes, that seems to belie his desire to “share” Manressa. Even if I obtain everything needed, will I be able to cook them in my kitchen? If the reader turns to the “How to use this book,” section, he or she is exhorted to try more ambitious recipes, but “ambition” sometimes translates into “equipment.” The difficulties of a number of the well-spelled out recipes often have less to do with ambitiously following steps or even obtaining materials, and more to do with having a combi-oven (one that introduces steam…you can buy a .6 cubic foot countertop one for only $300 that will just about hold a small chicken). This means, for example, that his interesting method of roasting, as time consuming as it is, probably would not work with my oven. I have cooked recipes from enough high end restaurants to know that chefs at this end of the spectrum have access to high end equipment. Many of them, however, when writing a book for mass distribution, take that situation into account and offer alternatives or home testing. (Thomas Keller in Bouchon Bakery offers, for example, a tested chain-rock-super soaker squirt gun method to put steam into a home oven for baking bread.) Those things are missing in Manressa. While some alternatives are offered, essentially, the reader is told that if you don’t have the high tech equipment (and sometimes the “low tech” equipment that he uses for making butter), then, for many of the recipes, well…you are on your own. Readers who have purchased, or are considering purchasing the book for other reasons, or who own super high-tech equipment, may, understandably, see things differently. For me, although I can understand all of the reasons why the recipes were not adapted for, or tested in, the home kitchen and could even find myself defending those reasons, still, the distance was a little disappointing. Testing in a home kitchen would have, for me, put this book over the top. There are also some other admittedly nit-picking items. A small item was the de rigor use well worn mantra of getting the best materials, and treating them respectfully. Use them in season and buy locally, unless you are speaking about truffles, foi gras, and caviar (maybe lobster, too?). I have heard it over many years, and have come to question it. Shouldn’t one of the responsibilities of a chef be to locate and bring forth the potential in the bounty he or she is offered? Should there be no fried green tomatoes because they are not perfectly ripe, or tomato water from over ripe tomatoes? Another item just proved annoying. The book ended with an abstract and somewhat gratuitous stream of consciousness epilogue which appeared to try to capture the essence of David Kinch. In it there was a line about David Kinch seldom using “I.” I found “I” many, many times in the book, and it should be so. This is, after all, his book, and his dream, so why present him as something that he isn’t? I like the book, and I am fascinated by the author. I thumb through it often. I think that most people interested in restaurants at this level will find it an excellent read. Being stubborn, I may try, with the equipment I have, to approximate some of the more difficult ones anyway, and see what happens. Maybe converting things on my own is David Kinch’s challenge to readers like me Amazon does not allow for fractions, or I would have scored it at 4.5. I like the book, but like the person one almost married, I find myself not loving it as I thought I would.

David Kinch's cooking comes through perfectly in this milestone book. More than any other book I've read, Manresa fuses, almost effortlessly, the farm-to-table ethos, modern cooking techniques, traditional cooking techniques (including things so fundamental as making salt and butter), sophistication, and accessibility. The photos are beautiful. Kinch's commentary is illuminating. And it's great to see weights in grams in an American cookbook! The only book I could compare it to in terms of capturing and distilling the concomitant culinary zeitgeist is The French Laundry Cookbook, but even then is it even close? This is the real deal, and I'm going to be cooking out of it for a long time.

I read a lot of reviews before I bought this book and love the whole idea behind David Kinch's approach to food and food preparation. I have been reading the cookbook like a book, actually, the title "an edible reflection" is what it is to me. I have been taking cooking classes every other week for the past 3 years and have some skill. I don't know if I will ever try any recipe in this book, but I love reading it. One review said it wasn't a coffee table book, but, so far, that is what it has been for me. I love the photos. In September I will be going up to the Sonoma Heirloom Festival and am making plans for taking a detour to stop at Manresa to eat. Maybe that will help me to open up to the level of skill I feel I need to embark on one of the recipes he shares. I really love his story and how his life has evolved. I have 8 raised beds and take from them everyday to make some fresh delicacy with herbs and greens, with some grated mandarin orange from my tree....and can only to aspire to find that place David Kinch has found.

My husband went to high school with David in New Orleans. At the reunion last fall, a group of us were discussing the restaurant and David's new cookbook. We are all planning a trip to San Francisco to see The Man! I LOVE COOKBOOKS so naturally I had to get this one. From the beautiful textured abalone shell on the cover to the varied albeit complicated recipes, I plan on trying some of the easier ones. The saving grace to this book with esoteric ingredients (that most people have never heard of) is the list of sources. Even if I never make a single recipe, I am very happy with my purchase.