The Cook's Atelier: Recipes, Techniques, and Stories from Our French Cooking School
The Cook's Atelier: Recipes, Techniques, and Stories from Our French Cooking School book cover

The Cook's Atelier: Recipes, Techniques, and Stories from Our French Cooking School

Hardcover – April 10, 2018

by
Price
$34.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
400
Publisher
Abrams
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1419728952
Dimensions
11 x 9.2 x 1.9 inches
Weight
4.7 pounds

Description

“The authors are remarkably adept at conveying what makes their adopted home so special, and their seductive book is likely to have readers fantasizing about their own escapes to France.”― Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW "A welcoming 400-page beauty filled with evocative photographs and approachable recipes, it’s a volume you’llxa0revisit time and again." ― Fine Cooking "This 400-page cookbook isn't just straight inspiration: It's a thorough reference to their Burgundy larder, with guidance on cooking essentials, seasonal menus composed of more than 100 recipes, kitchen rituals, and techniques they insist any cook can master."― Conde Nast Traveler “If you want to master a new skill, a cooking school's book is a good place to start. Especially when it's from this French one of the same name, which is where I imagine Julia Child would have gone if she were going to school now. It has promising recipes, inviting photos, heartwarming stories and tips that will make you a better home cook.”― Tasting Table "In this, their first cookbook, they’ve brought their collective teaching experience to the page, guiding the reader through classic French recipes like plum tarte tatin, watermelon and vineyard peach salad, and baby leek galettes with goat cheese and wild garlic."― Departures " The Cook’s Atelier shares the classic techniques they teach:xa0It'sxa0French cooking made easy, interspersed with a glimpse into life in regional France."― Fathom Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini are the mother-daughter duo and cofounders of The Cook’s Atelier, a French cooking school, culinary boutique, and wine shop in Beaune, France. This international culinary destination in the heart of French wine country has been featured in many publications, including Travel & Leisure , Fodor’s , Food & Wine , Condé Nast Traveler , and more.

Features & Highlights

  • 2019 IACP Cookbook Award for Food Photography & Styling 2019 IACP Cookbook Award for Design The debut cookbook from The Cook’s Atelier—the international culinary destination and cooking school in Burgundy
  • —
  • is a beautifully photographed resource on classic French cuisine and an atmospheric chronicle of a family’s life in a charming French village.
  • Mother and daughter American expats Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini always dreamed of living in France. With a lot of hard work and a dash of fate, they realized this dream and cofounded The Cook’s Atelier, a celebrated French cooking school in the storybook town of Beaune, located in the heart of the Burgundy wine region. Combining their professional backgrounds in food and wine, they attract visitors from near and far with their approachable, convivial style of cooking.   Featuring more than 100 market-inspired recipes and 300 exceptional photographs, this comprehensive reference is an extension of their cooking school, providing a refreshingly simple take on French techniques and recipes that every cook should know—basic butchery, essential stocks and sauces, pastry, dessert creams and sauces, and preserving, to name a few. Seasonal menus build on this foundation, collecting recipes that showcase their fresh, vegetable-focused versions of timeless French dishes, such as:
  • Green Garlic Soufflé
  • Green Garlic Soufflé
  • Watermelon and Vineyard Peach Salad
  • Watermelon and Vineyard Peach Salad
  • Little Croques Madames
  • Little Croques Madames
  • Sole Meunière with Beurre Blanc and Parsleyed Potatoes
  • Sole Meunière with Beurre Blanc and Parsleyed Potatoes
  • Seared Duck Breast with Celery Root Puree and Chanterelles
  • Seared Duck Breast with Celery Root Puree and Chanterelles
  • Madeleines
  • Madeleines
  • Plum Tarte Tatin
  • Plum Tarte Tatin
  • Almond-Cherry Galette
  • Almond-Cherry Galette
  • Stories of food and life in the village and the unique atmosphere of the atelier accent this personal cookbook. We can almost hear the clanking of the copper pots, the hiss of the vintage espresso machine, and the merriment around the table, as we meet some of the region’s best small farmers and artisanal producers and experience how Marjorie and Kendall’s family works together to create this special place.   More than a practical introduction to classic French cooking, this richly illustrated volume is also a distinctively designed celebration of the French art of joie de vivre and an inspirational primer on adopting elements of the French lifestyle, no matter where you live.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(161)
★★★★
25%
(67)
★★★
15%
(40)
★★
7%
(19)
★
-7%
(-19)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Are You Looking For A Beautiful Book? Or a more intense recipe experience?

As someone who owns more than 200 Cookbooks and purchased this one after reading the reviews here I find that this one doesn't come close to matching the rave reviews. It is a beautiful book with gorgeous, abundant photographs. But I would categorize this as a coffee table book with recipes rather than a book for cooks who want to add to their recipe repertoire. In fact, I realize I should have been wary of any book with 100% 5-star reviews and was going to return this book (the first cookbook I ever intended to return,) however, the $8.96 return fee discouraged me. I would caution a potential buyer to perhaps look at this book IRL before making a purchase.
89 people found this helpful
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A "coffee table" type book-massive, pretty pictures, not really much new information

I was very diappointed in this book. The story was short and seemed trite-certainly not like a David Lebowitz book, or even Julia Child, as far as recipes/techniques. The photography was beautiful, perhaps that was what this book should have been billed as, with the recipes and techniques of secondary importance.
25 people found this helpful
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because I had the amazing pleasure and experience to cook with Marjorie and Kendall ...

I am so excited to finally receive this book. I’ve been waiting for this for a while, because I had the amazing pleasure and experience to cook with Marjorie and Kendall a few years ago.

Frame of reference about me: I am a self-taught cook since 1997. However, I had always wanted to take an extended course, at least a week in France as that is the area of cooking with which I am most familiar. After a lot of research, I chose Marjorie’s course in Burgundy.

Marjorie comes with an impressive culinary history. What particularly interested my was that she studied at La Varenne under Anne Willan. I chose to take a 5 day course with my brother. Kendall’s knowledge of Bourgogne wines and cheeses is extremely impressive. We spent about 6-8 hours each day, cooking, talking, and learning.

Because they are so careful to choose products that reflect what is in in season, you only get to cook a portion of their recipe catalogue when you work with them in Beaune. With this book, I now get a whole collection of the recipes, beyond what we were able to make during the week with them.

She trained with some of the best, and it’s reflected in the recipes. Also, because she works so closely with local producers and artisans, she has all their knowledge at her disposal.

This is an outstanding book from an outstanding chef, and the only thing that could be better would be to go back to make more of the recipes with her.
25 people found this helpful
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Up there with David Lebovitz

I love the way this cookbook is written. I read it cover to cover like a novel. It captures the dream of immersing into French culture so perfectly that it simultaneously makes me want to sell everything I own and move to France while also making me jealous because I’m sure I could never do it the way they did it.

The recipes are beautifully authentic and highlight traditional French foods in their seasons. In addition, the authors highlight local vendors. I think it’s a nice touch.

I thought this cookbook was a bit pretentious when I first started flipping through but it’s not at all. It’s just lovely. I reference it as much as I do all of David Lebovitz’s Cookbooks.
15 people found this helpful
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What a wonderful book this is

What a wonderful book this is, a labor of love for sure, it's gorgeous and takes you beyond the authors' atelier. Anson Smart's photos really capture their beautiful world in Beaune, one of the prettiest spots in France. Their recipes are written with care and what surprised me was their unique concept for chapters. You expect seasonal cooking in French cookbooks, but their particular subchapters put you in the center of their lifestyle, like Jam Day, Dinner in the Wine Shop, Beaujolais Nouveau, Fireside Cooking. I unpacked my book this morning, finding the back cover photo facing me: two copper molds with souffles popping up, held by cooks in floury white aprons - I was hooked. You will be too.
7 people found this helpful
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A cookbook that all francophiles and cookbook lovers should own

Full disclosure here...I have attended cooking classes in Beaune with the authors. I bought the cookbook because the class experience was just incredible. I am happy to say the book is even better. The recipes are written such that a basic cook can now become an accomplished French cook on many special dishes. The photography is terrific, so good you can almost smell the dishes. I would highly recommend buying the book as a gift for your favorite cook, but I would even more recommend buying it for yourself. If you are a cookbook addict, like I am, you will not be disappointed. Also, be sure to schedule a class if you are lucky enough to go to France.
6 people found this helpful
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Picture Book Not Good French Cook Book

I was really excited about the prospects of this book, bought it at a lower price than Amazon elsewhere. So disappointed, would have returned if I had bought at Amazon. Here's why: it's loaded with pictures and stories of people who live/work/provide services to the authors. Uninteresting if you are really looking for original recipes and improved techniques that you would expect of a school cookbook. It's hardly here but a hot cider recipe is. The sauce sauce recipes you can even find in American cookbooks. Every recipe you can find elsewhere, over and over again.
Save your money, put it toward a wonderful copper pot. This book doesn't deserve a position on my bookshelf. I can't even think of anyone I can gift this too who is interested in learning how to cook better.
5 people found this helpful
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Long on pictures and stories, way short on recipes and techniques

This felt more like an add for French tourism than a cookbook. While the photos are beautiful, I thought it would be more substantive concerning cooking techniques and recipes. Also, a lot of the recipes that were included are for very simple things like salads or soups that don't require a lot of actual cooking.
5 people found this helpful
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More ‘lifestyle’ than ‘cook’ book

The Cook’s Atelier is a cooking school/shop run by American expats (presumably) for expats and wannabe-expats. Would Julia Child have liked it? Maybe — but it’s unfair to compare The Cook’s Atelier to Le Cordon Bleu, the culinary school for professionals that Julia Child attended. I’ve seen references in other reviews to David Lebovitz and Dorie Greenspan but neither of them run a cooking school.

It seemed to me that the family behind The Cook’s Atelier teaches not just simple French cooking but also simple French living. If you are familiar with Mireille Giuliano, this book is more along the lines of her “French Women Don’t Get Fat” cookbook. With pictures.

While it didn’t teach me anything revolutionary about French cuisine (I didn’t expect it to), I enjoy the book very much, especially the seasonal menus. And the recipes work, which is more than you can say for more than a few cookbooks published by lifestyle-bloggers these days.
3 people found this helpful
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Buy this cookbook if you love French cooking. Or just want to learn.

This is such a beautiful cookbook. I will admit, I am a cookbook collector. I have bookshelves of them, so I have seen and used a lot of cookbooks. Besides the wonderful recipes, the book is so high quality. Wonderful, thick pages, large photos. And great content. I cannot wait to try many of the recipes. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the fabulous text and photos of France. I highly recommend this book!
3 people found this helpful

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