Top Chef The Cookbook

This was a gift for a friend who loves the show. She was very pleased.

I bought this more for novelty than anything else. Like the show, I wish it was more about the food and less about the people. The pictures are lovely. Recipes are good, I haven't attempted them all yet. I recommend if you like the show.

As a huge fan of Top Chef I was happy to read more in depth material on the show and the contestants. So much editing is done for on air purposes that the written remarks are more revealing. The reciepes are a little much for the home cook but can be modified. Excellent read!

As a dedicated fan of TOP CHEF from the very first season ,who always wonders what I would do with the challenges (despite the fact, I'm only a "wanna be decent cook"), I bought this book because I always wonder what ingredients are actually available to use in the TOP CHEF Kitchen for those challenges.

Afterall, how could anyone create some of those "out of the vending machine in 20 minutes" or "canned food" dishes without a few extra ingredients? What, I wondered, if I were doing the challenges would I be able to use?

This book delivers on that question and more . While, apparently, the pantry ingredients for each challenge are TOP secret - the list of staples provided regularly and recipes from the various challenges - give a good sense of what the challenges truly consisted.

Judge perspectives, unique profiles of the contestants, recaps of the seasons and challenges, and sample applications --- all make this like a behind-the-scenes tour with old friends. Plus, it's laden with beautiful food pictures - and enough cooking tips, ideas and information to keep any amatuer chef happy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ANY TOP CHEF FAN.

I also purchased Think Like a Chef, which is the selection you want to go for if you're more interested in cooking great recipes and learning about Tom's culinary perspective, than the behind-the-scenes look of the show (you won't find online) this one provides.

My son got me this book for Mother's Day. I took it into work to share with my other Top Chef fans and didn't see it for a month. We all loved it. It was very interesting to be behind the scenes of the show. I've tried some of the recipes and feel that I had to take creative license in preparing them. Zahtar? Not available in Tucson, Arizona. Would a teaspoon of it make a difference in taste? I have no idea. That's what I mean. But it's all good fun and if you are a TC fan, buy the book.