Rating: 
Summary: So far, so spectacular
Review: I've only made a few of the recipes since buying this, but so far, they've all been amazing -- easy to prepare (even the most elaborate of the 4 versions) and uniformly impressive. Good for dinner at home but also made stunning "company" dishes. I wholeheartedly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Amateur cook finds a cookbook that he can enjoy.
Review: My father is the cook in the family -- I only follow in his humble footsteps. This book, however, is unbelievable for both the professional and amateur cook. My father and I both have copies, and while he can make the more exotic dishes, my less adventurous versions are just as good.In "Simple to Spectacular", Vongerichten and Bittman have constructed a genius concept: take a single recipe, and show it at various levels of complexity. So, you get egg recipes that start with "the Best Scrambled Eggs" and going up to "Scrambled Eggs with Caviar and Creme Fraiche." This idea is marvelous, because it allows amateur cooks, like myself, to see how you can use a basic concept and build on it to create something sophisticated and different. This is a perfect book for a young cook who is interested in really learning how to make good and great food. In spite of the sumptuous egg dish on the cover, this would work great for college students, or recent grads as they struggle to move beyond macaroni and cheese and pizza as staples of their diet.
Rating:
Summary: Amateur cook finds a cookbook that he can enjoy.
Review: My father is the cook in the family -- I only follow in his humble footsteps. This book, however, is unbelievable for both the professional and amateur cook. My father and I both have copies, and while he can make the more exotic dishes, my less adventurous versions are just as good. In "Simple to Spectacular", Vongerichten and Bittman have constructed a genius concept: take a single recipe, and show it at various levels of complexity. So, you get egg recipes that start with "the Best Scrambled Eggs" and going up to "Scrambled Eggs with Caviar and Creme Fraiche." This idea is marvelous, because it allows amateur cooks, like myself, to see how you can use a basic concept and build on it to create something sophisticated and different. This is a perfect book for a young cook who is interested in really learning how to make good and great food. In spite of the sumptuous egg dish on the cover, this would work great for college students, or recent grads as they struggle to move beyond macaroni and cheese and pizza as staples of their diet.
Rating:
Summary: Good ideas for beginners and more advanced cooks
Review: My fiance and I throw a lot of dinner parties. I've loved cooking for years, and have mastered a number of great dishes that my friends love - and usually keep asking for. Constantly in search of new 'greats' - I've bought shelves of cookbooks trying to find great recipes that I could then modify to make my own. If only I'd found this book first - I would have saved myself hundreds of dollars! This book is incredible - it starts with one basic (but great) recipe for something (like sauteed red snapper, for instance) then gives you 3 additional recipes, each becoming more complex. For instance, sauteed red snapper becomes potato crusted red snapper with a mustard/wine sauce, then spice and nut crusted red snapper, and finally pistachio crusted red snapper with pistachio oil and sauteed spinach. The best part is that this isn't just a book of recipies. The author always explains in detail what you're doing, and why. He points out the really important part of these dishes, to ensure you know where to be careful. Plus, because it's written showing how you can constantly modify recipes for new creations, it opens a *big* door for you to constantly modify and be creative. I've never seen another cookbook like it. Pros:
-Recipies are amazing!
-Even better, you learn how to modify them all in order to create fantastic new recipies.
-Besides the recipies, there's a lot you can learn about cooking in general - there is a wealth of knowledge in here. Cons:
-I don't have any... this book is just remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: Brought new life to my cooking!
Review: My fiance and I throw a lot of dinner parties. I've loved cooking for years, and have mastered a number of great dishes that my friends love - and usually keep asking for. Constantly in search of new 'greats' - I've bought shelves of cookbooks trying to find great recipes that I could then modify to make my own. If only I'd found this book first - I would have saved myself hundreds of dollars! This book is incredible - it starts with one basic (but great) recipe for something (like sauteed red snapper, for instance) then gives you 3 additional recipes, each becoming more complex. For instance, sauteed red snapper becomes potato crusted red snapper with a mustard/wine sauce, then spice and nut crusted red snapper, and finally pistachio crusted red snapper with pistachio oil and sauteed spinach. The best part is that this isn't just a book of recipies. The author always explains in detail what you're doing, and why. He points out the really important part of these dishes, to ensure you know where to be careful. Plus, because it's written showing how you can constantly modify recipes for new creations, it opens a *big* door for you to constantly modify and be creative. I've never seen another cookbook like it. Pros:
-Recipies are amazing!
-Even better, you learn how to modify them all in order to create fantastic new recipies.
-Besides the recipies, there's a lot you can learn about cooking in general - there is a wealth of knowledge in here. Cons:
-I don't have any... this book is just remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: Great buy, especially for the beginners!
Review: This cookbook is great, especially for beginners. It starts out with really easy, basic and yummy recipes. Then, it builds upon the first one so that you can create more sophisticated and even yummier dishes. It's very easy to read and understand, and even the most inexperienced chef can learn to create masterpieces. There are a lot of great cookbooks out there and it can be overwhelming especially for us beginners; But, I would highly reccommend this book to everyone--from the recent college graduate to the experienced chef who's been cooking for years. I've cooked a few of them--my favorites so far are the scrambled eggs with tomato and basil and I'm starting to learn to make some MEAN mashed potatoes (almost as good as Mom's =). It's also a very beautiful book, with lots of great pictures and would be a great gift!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Useful Resource
Review: This is a beautiful book. There are 250 categories of recipes and 5 variations of each. They start with a basic quick and easy to prepare version then increase the ingredients/techniques to make it "fancier" over 4 variations. Scrambled eggs go from the old staple (but cooked in a special "soft" way) with eggs and butter to fancy with caviar served in an egg shell(as pictured on the cover). Lobster too undergoes transformation from steamed to extraordinary. The instructions are clear and precise and detailed notes/hints are provided as required. The full color photos are appealing and give you an idea of how beautiful the dishes are. The basic dishes can easily (and quickly) be prepared for weekday meals while the more exotic variations can be prepared for those special occasions.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting.
Review: This is a great educational book. And, sometimes. a great cookbook. I have tried a number of the recipes and some are dissapointing for my family. Where this book shines is as a building block. The book shows how recipes are built, layer on layer. For a budding chef or professional, a great read.
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