12 Cookbooks From the Best Restaurants in the World

I love restaurant cookbooks! For those of us who dine out often but also cook at home, we find what chefs can achieve in their restaurants awe-inspiring. Cookbooks that feature behind-the-scenes creativity and techniques offer a rare glimpse into techniques and flavor profiles we would never encounter outside of fine dining kitchens. These are cookbooks from some of the greates restaurants in the world:

Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, René Redzepi

Not only is Noma one of, if not the most, unique restaurants in the world, it's been ranked the best by Restaurant Magazine several years in a row. Noma features Nordic cuisine which has a particular rusticism to it, but set in a fine dining setting.

Perhaps one of the most defining qualities of chef René is his innovation in finding, preparing, preserving, and presenting foraged foods. To you, a weed is a weed; to chef René, it may be the best thing you've ever eaten if properly prepared. A restaurant like Noma cannot exist anywhere else because the emphasis on place and environment is fundamental to its existence. Securing a seat at this 12-table restaurant is next to impossible and requires a trip to Copenhagen, but chef Renés book does justice to the philosophy that made Noma what it is today.

The Nomad Cookbook

The Nomad cookbook is Eleven Madison Park's younger, hipper, slightly more casual sibling. It brings a similar style and cuisine to larger more traditional dishes which are also more approachable for the home cook. Their most well-known example is their succulent chicken stuffed with foie gras, black truffle, and chestnut stuffing under the skin. Separating the skin from the breast with this stuffing creates an ultra-crispy skin when cooked.

The cookbook is a wealthy source of fine cooking techniques like this one. It also shows deep respect for proper cooking of vegetables as dishes, which is rare for an omnivore cookbook.

Momofuku, David Chang

Chef David Chang is most well known for his appearance on Anthony Bourdain's "Mind of a Chef." But Momofuku has been a staple of New York City's Asian fusion cuisine for quite a few years now. Chang's works show a propensity to combine Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisines for a Western audience, almost irreverently. But somehow, his method works and people come from all over the world to eat at his restaurants.

This book is unique in that it features recipes from three of David Chang's restaurants, all at various levels of dining sophistication. It has the ramen broth from Noodle Bar, as well as lychee and shaved foie gras from the critically-acclaimed fine dining restaurant Ko.

Manresa, David Kinch

Manresa's three-Michelin Star rating is unexpected given its location, but very much deserved. It is the only Los Gatos restaurant to hold three stars and one of a handful of Bay Area restaurants to have the honor. After suffering a fire early in its lifetime, Manresa has come back in full force with a heavy seafood and Japanese-influenced but clearly American menu.

Kinch's recipes are elevated, but not unreachable for the home chef like many fine dining restaurant cookbooks. Several of his recipes like the Arpege Farm Egg are wonderfully simple in a way that almost any competent cook can prepare yet remarkably elegant in a way that will wow your guest beyond belief.

Chef Iso

Chef Iso is the head pastry chef behind chefiso.com. He is the winner of the Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network and was named Best Baking and Sweets Blogger by Saveur Magazine. With a background in Japanese confections and French pastry, he brings the best of both worlds into his recipes.

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Cookbooks from the Best Restaurants in the World

Chef Iso