Rating: 
Summary: Review by a weekend cook
Review: Boulud's book looks and reads well (I have tried only one recipe), however, the recipe for lamp chops with pignoli and lemon instructs you to add the basil, although there is no basil listed in the ingredients. I trust the editing of the other recipes has been more careful.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 star dishes that actually work at home
Review: Daniel Boulud, one of America's best chefs, has teamed up with one of America's best cookbook authors, Dorie Greenspan, and the results are delicious. Café Boulud Cookbook is wonderful for picking up and reading--transporting one to Boulud's hometown of St.-Pierre de Chandieu, a small village near Lyon, France, inspiring dreams about Chicken Grand-Mère Francine, and back again to Café Boulud in New York City. But beyond that, the book is filled with dishes that not only make me hungry, but actually inspire me to run out and buy the ingredients and make them. And best of all, the recipes actually work! Nor are they too difficult. Boulud's voice comes through loud and clear in the wonderful headnotes, and Greenspan's gentle hand-holding is evident in the careful and thorough instructions. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: 4 star dishes that actually work at home
Review: Daniel Boulud, one of America's best chefs, has teamed up with one of America's best cookbook authors, Dorie Greenspan, and the results are delicious. Café Boulud Cookbook is wonderful for picking up and reading--transporting one to Boulud's hometown of St.-Pierre de Chandieu, a small village near Lyon, France, inspiring dreams about Chicken Grand-Mère Francine, and back again to Café Boulud in New York City. But beyond that, the book is filled with dishes that not only make me hungry, but actually inspire me to run out and buy the ingredients and make them. And best of all, the recipes actually work! Nor are they too difficult. Boulud's voice comes through loud and clear in the wonderful headnotes, and Greenspan's gentle hand-holding is evident in the careful and thorough instructions. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: I got a standing ovation because of this book!
Review: I am really enjoying reading this book. The informative passages preceeding each recipe give some insight into the origin of the recipe and alternative ways to prepare and serve. I usually put post-it notes on each page that holds a recipe I want to prepare, but this book is just packed with goodies so I won't bother with the post-its. I particularly liked the traditional French recipes. Also, I feel that the methods used are relatively simple and easy for the average cook to execute, which is a tribute not only to the quality of Boulud's ability as a chef but also as an author. A lot of chefs' cookbooks get knocked (and mostly justifiably so) for being too complicated or esoteric for the layperson to relate to and use, but this chef's cookbook is the delicious exception to the rule. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A delicious book
Review: I am really enjoying reading this book. The informative passages preceeding each recipe give some insight into the origin of the recipe and alternative ways to prepare and serve. I usually put post-it notes on each page that holds a recipe I want to prepare, but this book is just packed with goodies so I won't bother with the post-its. I particularly liked the traditional French recipes. Also, I feel that the methods used are relatively simple and easy for the average cook to execute, which is a tribute not only to the quality of Boulud's ability as a chef but also as an author. A lot of chefs' cookbooks get knocked (and mostly justifiably so) for being too complicated or esoteric for the layperson to relate to and use, but this chef's cookbook is the delicious exception to the rule. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Odd organization, good content
Review: I'm not crazy about the way this book is structured -- it's really four small cookbooks in one, each carrying through from appetizers to dessert, themed around one of the ways Boulud looks at dining. But with that said, there's great stuff in here. Wonderful long-cooked chicken, for example, and good basics, too. If you don't know how to make pate brisee' or sablee', he'll tell you, and tell you how to do it with a range of power tools, too. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: A very good thing
Review: Martha Stewart captured the charm of this book in her introduction when she says '...I cannot wait to open it again (for)... those recipes that I want to try immediately... then to all the other recipes, because I'd like to try them also'. I have felt that same urge while reading other great cookbooks, such as Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking', to which this book is a worthy amendment. This urge is a sure sign that the author(s) of the book have something which have touched your sensibilities.It is important to note that while Daniel Boulud is the headliner, there is a very important co-author, Dorie Greenspan, who has won more cookbook awards than any three celebrity chefs put together. It's hard to determine exactly how much Dorie contributed, but, as a major cookbook author in her own right, I have to believe her contribution was a lot more than transcribing Boulud's words from tape recordings and notes. My guess is that, at the very least, she was instrumental in translating the recipes from the restaurant to the home kitchen. Her contribution must be, therefore, essential to the attraction of this book. As other reviewers have noted, the book, like the menu at Café Boulud, is divided into four independent sections covering French, World, Seasonal, and Vegetarian cuisines. In evaluating the recipes, I believe this division is incidental. All of the recipes are easily identifiable as having sprung from the French culinary tradition. The only thing distinguishing one section from the others in my reading is that the first section on traditional French recipes presented a concrete look at the elements of Nouvelle Cuisine in the Troisgros brothers recipe 'Salmon and Sorrel Troisgros'. In the past, I have read many generalities but few real examples on what this movement is really about. I thank Daniel and Dorie for that. There is, of course much, much more. While the subtitle of the book proclaims it to contain recipes for the home cook, these are primarily only practical for the 'foodie' cookbook collector, food hobbist, weekend meals, and special entertaining meals where the added cache of preparing something from Café Boulud adds interest to the feast. Almost all recipes are LONG, with long ingredients lists. Many recipes include long marinades and braises. Most recipes include substantial subpreparations such as for stocks and sauces. Luckily, the authors always add a warning when the technique requires a plan ahead step. None of this detracts from the type of enthusiasm Martha Stewart had for the book, as I felt the same thing. These are good recipies. It is to our advantage that the new interest in food in the US is centered around both American and French cuisines, as this means that very few ingredients used in this book will be hard to find. I have even seen Jerusalem artichokes in my local supermarket. No need to travel to a farmer's market or to the regional megamart. Spices and herbs should be no problem. The hard to find stuff is more likely to be things like sweetmeats and marrow bones. I found no errors in this book. The closest it came was to relate Jerusalem artichokes with globe artichokes in the main section of the book. The two are not botanically related, and this is cleared up in the appendix on ingredients. In general, I find such appendices on tools, techniques, and terms to be of little value, since, being just a few pages long, they invariably omit something you may look for. This book's appendices have good content, but they fail to explain many of the French culinary terms. I also give little credit to the pantry recipe sections, but, in this book and other good books like it, you need to know how the author prepared their veal stocks and the like to really know how their stuff is supposed to turn out. The color pictures in this book are the way I like them in separate sections, all together, so you can page through all the pictures to choose a dish. In this book, the pictures are divided into the four sections of recipes. Very wise. This book is MUCH better than the later 'Chef Danial Boulud: Cooking In New York City', where the celebrity chefs started entombing their cuisine in coffe table books with lots of useless photographs. The absence of Ms. Greenspan's influence is also felt in the latter volume. Even at $35, this book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: A very good thing
Review: Martha Stewart captured the charm of this book in her introduction when she says `...I cannot wait to open it again (for)... those recipes that I want to try immediately... then to all the other recipes, because I'd like to try them also'. I have felt that same urge while reading other great cookbooks, such as Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking', to which this book is a worthy amendment. This urge is a sure sign that the author(s) of the book have something which have touched your sensibilities. It is important to note that while Daniel Boulud is the headliner, there is a very important co-author, Dorie Greenspan, who has won more cookbook awards than any three celebrity chefs put together. It's hard to determine exactly how much Dorie contributed, but, as a major cookbook author in her own right, I have to believe her contribution was a lot more than transcribing Boulud's words from tape recordings and notes. My guess is that, at the very least, she was instrumental in translating the recipes from the restaurant to the home kitchen. Her contribution must be, therefore, essential to the attraction of this book. As other reviewers have noted, the book, like the menu at Café Boulud, is divided into four independent sections covering French, World, Seasonal, and Vegetarian cuisines. In evaluating the recipes, I believe this division is incidental. All of the recipes are easily identifiable as having sprung from the French culinary tradition. The only thing distinguishing one section from the others in my reading is that the first section on traditional French recipes presented a concrete look at the elements of Nouvelle Cuisine in the Troisgros brothers recipe `Salmon and Sorrel Troisgros'. In the past, I have read many generalities but few real examples on what this movement is really about. I thank Daniel and Dorie for that. There is, of course much, much more. While the subtitle of the book proclaims it to contain recipes for the home cook, these are primarily only practical for the `foodie' cookbook collector, food hobbist, weekend meals, and special entertaining meals where the added cache of preparing something from Café Boulud adds interest to the feast. Almost all recipes are LONG, with long ingredients lists. Many recipes include long marinades and braises. Most recipes include substantial subpreparations such as for stocks and sauces. Luckily, the authors always add a warning when the technique requires a plan ahead step. None of this detracts from the type of enthusiasm Martha Stewart had for the book, as I felt the same thing. These are good recipies. It is to our advantage that the new interest in food in the US is centered around both American and French cuisines, as this means that very few ingredients used in this book will be hard to find. I have even seen Jerusalem artichokes in my local supermarket. No need to travel to a farmer's market or to the regional megamart. Spices and herbs should be no problem. The hard to find stuff is more likely to be things like sweetmeats and marrow bones. I found no errors in this book. The closest it came was to relate Jerusalem artichokes with globe artichokes in the main section of the book. The two are not botanically related, and this is cleared up in the appendix on ingredients. In general, I find such appendices on tools, techniques, and terms to be of little value, since, being just a few pages long, they invariably omit something you may look for. This book's appendices have good content, but they fail to explain many of the French culinary terms. I also give little credit to the pantry recipe sections, but, in this book and other good books like it, you need to know how the author prepared their veal stocks and the like to really know how their stuff is supposed to turn out. The color pictures in this book are the way I like them in separate sections, all together, so you can page through all the pictures to choose a dish. In this book, the pictures are divided into the four sections of recipes. Very wise. This book is MUCH better than the later `Chef Danial Boulud: Cooking In New York City', where the celebrity chefs started entombing their cuisine in coffe table books with lots of useless photographs. The absence of Ms. Greenspan's influence is also felt in the latter volume. Even at $35, this book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Millennium Dinner
Review: This fantastic book was given to me as a Christmas present from my husband. He had heard a review stating it was the book to have. I've have poured over this book for a week and made our millennium dinner from it - Clams Casino and Seafood Misto. Since we were unable to dine at his restaurant in NY, this was the next best thing! (I've made a list of the recipes that I have to try and I'm not a professional cook!)
Rating:
Summary: A must have cookbook
Review: This is by far the best cookbook of the year (French Laundry 2nd IMHO). Not only are the recipes within the grasp of the average home cook, but they taste great as well. I've eaten at Daniel and Cafe Boulud and and more than a few of the dishes I've enjoyed at the restaurants are in this book. I've cooked over a dozen dishes and haven't had a disappointment yet. Most, if not all ingredients are easily accessible and no exotic kitchen tools or highly advanced cooking techniques are neccessary for 90% of the recipes. If you love to cook and eat, this book is a must have.
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