10 Essential Restaurant Cookbooks You Need in Your Kitchen

Chef Thomas Keller’s revered Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry, has its own cookbook—which is itself so lauded that it’s entirely possible that it’s already an enthusiastic home cook’s shelf. In which case, why not make sure it has a little Keller-themed company in the form of the cookbook for the chef’s bistro concept, Bouchon. The recipes here are more casual than those for the French Laundry and that’s exactly what makes them so wonderful.

The owners of Kachka opened the doors of their Portland, Oregon, restaurant with the goal of bringing traditional Russian fare to everyone. So it brings things full circle that after winning accolades as a dining experience, Kachka’s cookbook allows you to take recipes inspired by gathering around a familial dinner table and prepare them for your own nearest and dearest. In addition to dishes like porcini barley soup and cauliflower schnitzel, you’ll also find recipes for unique vodka infusions and Soviet-inspired cocktails.

After 10 years of serving up delicious dishes inspired by food from all over Asia, this Boston spot put out a cookbook that allows home chefs to try their hand at some of Myers and Chang’s signature meals. Not only does the book contain a range of recipes one might find on the restaurant’s menu, it makes the process approachable for anyone who might be making dumplings or using a wok for the first time.

The dine-in experience at this New Orleans eatery is curated and intimated—making it a natural jumping-off point for any pod-only dinner parties you might be thinking of hosting. Mosquito Supper Club’s cookbook is a love letter to Cajun cuisine that promises to make any home cook a devotee. Even if you don’t know the first thing about crawfish, this collection of recipes will guide you to craft meals so delicious and evocative of New Orleans you’ll swear you can feel the humidity.

We all have our go-to comfort food recipes—the dishes we can whip up off the top of our head when all you want from your meal is to wash away your worries in a wave of cheese and carbohydrates. But if you’re looking to shake up your comfort food repertoire, check out The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook. Located in the Catskills, this diner has perfected the art of classic, homey food with enough contemporary touches to keep things interesting. So get ready to hunker down and treat yourself with some cider-braised duck grits.

Chefs Alex Raij and Eder Montero have recreated the legendary cuisine of Spanish Basque Country via Txikito, their New York City restaurant, for years. And now their cookbook, which contains dishes from their restaurant, makes it possible for novices to gain a practical understanding of how to craft meals that follow both the fine dining and home cooking side of this revered cooking tradition. You’ll learn everything from how to source simple but high-quality ingredients to stews you’ll be making year-round.

Located in Downtown Los Angeles, Bestia is a bastion of rustic Italian classics executed with a culinary bravado. And the restaurant’s accompanying cookbook gives you everything you need to transform your kitchen into a buzzy hot spot. Of course you’ll find recipes for entrees (like cavatelli alla norcina), but you’ll also find the building blocks–like the preserves, stocks, and vinaigrettes–that you need to make an incredibly flavored meal every time you cook.

With its café and bakery that blends Vietnamese and French cooking traditions, it’s no wonder this Austin eatery has become so popular. And just like the café, the cookbook will take you from breakfast (say good morning with spicy breakfast fried rice and eggs) to lunch (spicy tofu and avocado steamed buns) to a sweet treat to close out your night (tropically-flavored macarons).

Dinner and movies—has there ever been a better duo? Hence, you have the joy that is San Francisco’s Foreign Cinema, a restaurant that screens movies on its outdoor patio. But Foreign Cinema is far from just a gimmick, and its cookbook proves it. Alongside movie references, you’ll find recipes that will allow you to bring this restaurant’s Northern African, Mediterranean-Californian cuisine to fruition in your own home.

The Momofuku Milk Bar book has something that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth on every page. You’ll find recipes for all their signature desserts, including Compost Cookies, Milk Bar pie, and—of course—their world-famous Cereal Milk. So even if you’re very much on the inexperienced side of the home baker spectrum, you’ll still have fun aiming for something unique and whimsical.