The name pretty much says it all. This new tome—and it is, no exaggeration, just that—is an encyclopedic collection of some of the world’s most celebrated chef’s own favorite places to dine, methodically assembled by London-based restaurant critic Joe Warwick. It’s a simple, but genius, idea: ask those who spend the vast majority of their time in a kitchen creating food for others to enjoy, where they like to eat when off-duty. The resulting 600+ page Where Chefs Eat (Phaidon) is helpfully divided by city, with suggestions separated into various categories like bargain, wish I’d opened, late night, worth the travel and regular neighborhood. You can search by chef—April Bloomfield likes to hit up Kunjip in New York’s K-Town late night, Gabrielle Hamilton loves Kafana (one of my own local favorites) for a bargain meal, Eric Ripert thinks Tokyo’s Sukiyabashi Jiro is worth traveling to, and both Magnus Nilsson and Ferran Adria claim they wish they had opened the Laguiole modern French restaurant, Bras—or by destination, which means there is a good chance your next vacation’s meals can be sorted far before arrival time. And while the book is an excellent resource to keep at home, at the end of the month you can have all these chef’s suggestions handy all the time with the release of an accompanying iPad app.
$19.95, wherechefseat.com
