Roberts, executive chef at Trumps restaurant in L.A., presents recipes for the dishes he likes to cook at home. His repertoire—as eclectic as that of most contemporary chefs—has a homey, nostalgic base and a tendency to stuff the flesh course, whether it be whole birds, chicken breasts, veal, salmon, or prawns. Chapters cover hot and cold dinners; updates of his Jewish grandmothers' old-country dishes and of lowbrow 50's fare (e.g., tuna-noodle casserole); stolid meatless meals and ``politically correct'' grain-and-bean dishes still tainted with sausages or other meats; quick meals (several of them based on scallops) and company meals that turn out to be mostly roasts and no fancier than his others; and his versions of less familiar French and Italian and less authentic Mexican and Asian dishes. (These last, Roberts promises, ``don't depend on trips to Chinatown'' for ingredients.) Complete with advice and historical/cultural chat more predictable than the recipes—unexceptional fare that's well positioned to meet the current mood for cosmopolitan comfort food. (Color photographs throughout.)
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-08544-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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