Customer Reviews

The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have only made a few of the simpler recipes from this cookbook as I just got it recently. The simple chana dal with chanterelles became an instant staple: easy, incredibly fresh-flavored, and healthy. Chanterelles being $25 a pound, I've used fresh shiitake for all subsequent preparations of this recipe. (Chanterelles super, but not worth the money for a hearty every-day dish. Even right now I'm eating a bowl of the dal, with cheaper mushrooms.)

The pistachio lace tuiles were delicious, rich, crispy; I made a double batch because I had all the ingredients on hand (you probably won't, but since I have the previous Millennium cookbook, brown rice syrup was already in my pantry). The real hit with friends was the Coconut Sorbet. So simple...but my friend S---- ran outside after one bite and started yelling for D--- to come inside and "try this ice cream NOW!".

This cookbook is NOT for beginners. Try out The Voluptuous Vegan if you want to get started with simpler but still-delicious vegan food. I'm not a vegan...but I love the food in this cookbook.

An excellent cookbook. Some of the recipies are time consuming -- but absolutely worth the effort. The ginger cookies, german chocolate cake, "oyster" appetizer are just a few of my favorites. NOT a Monday night, its 6 pm, what are we going to have for dinner book - but perfect for special occasions. Note, some of the ingredients can only be found in asian grocers - not a problem here in Hawaii, but may be for you. Also, some desserts rely on cocoa butter - which I can only get by mail order. YUM!

This cookbook is absolutly amazing! If you've never been to the Millenium Restaurant in San Franciso, you must go. I would not call this an everyday cookbook because the meals take a while to prepare, are multi-layered and intense. But, I've made 3 entrees and 1 dessert, and I have to say that after preparing a menu in its entirety, you really appreciate the nature of the food and the taste of not using any animal products!

They provide great pictures, easy-to-follow instructions and suggest substitutes for ingredients you may have trouble finding. All in all, a fantastic treat for vegans and non-vegans alike! Shock your meat-eating friends, they'll never know!

There are two chefs who taught me how to cook by virtue of publishing the books that I learned from. The first is Madhur Jaffrey (World of the East Vegetarian Cooking--an outstanding, comprehensive book of recipes, methods, ingredients and their substitutions for beginners with a knack for flavors and the will to give it a try). The next is Eric Tucker, Head Chef of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco (best restaurant I've ever had the pleasure of dining in) and author of two Millennium books including The Artful Vegan.

I have both of Eric Tucker's books (Artful, and The Millennium Cookbook), and I reference them both frequently, whether I want to put on a pull-out-all-the-stops fabulous dinner party or just want a little inspiration for interesting flavor combinations for tonight's dinner.


Complicated? Doesn't have to be:

First thing you'll want to know about these books is that other reviewers are right that these are not meant for whipping up quick meals at the end of a long day. That said, I have on countless occasions pulled out Eric's books for inspiration for a quick something-or-other to do with, say, butternut squash. Say I've baked a butternut squash ahead of time and have it sitting in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it at the end of one of these hard days. A quick flip to the index of Artful for "squash, butternut" sends me to pp. 130-131, where I see the interesting combination of garlic, lemons, tahini, onion, tomato, and mint (plus some other things that I don't feel like putting in). I decide to combine those ingreds with some nice wild mushrooms I have in the fridge, a little minced serrano chile, and a smidge of raw sugar melted and poured over the squash, and I come up with a darned yummy and easy meal.

The thing to remember is that cookbooks are suggestions, nothing more. They are launching pads. With The Artful Vegan, what you've got is a series of very interesting flavor combinations that should make you feel like a kid in the world's biggest sandbox--play Play PLAY with the flavors, play with the textures, use the bits that sound good to you, combine them with other bits that pique your curiosity, and learn from it. Some of your "experiments" might well suck--that's OK. A bunch of them will be exquisite. Artful gives you a very comprehensive bunch of ideas that take you--well, it definitely took me--to places I would not have thought to go on my own. Now I do think it, and this is why I say Eric Tucker is one of the chefs who taught me to cook by writing this excellent book.


Well, unless you want it to be complicated:

Using the recipes not as suggestions but as verbatim instructions will also have you singing with glee. This is where you should set aside a day of preparation ahead of time and then another day to do the cooking and assembling and serving. Really--plan for a Sunday eve meal that you start on Saturday morning (preferably with a visit to the local farmers' market). This is why I (and other reviewers) say the recipes are time-consuming. But if you love the subtle arts of cookery and fancy yourself brave enough to try new techniques and flavor/texture combinations, you are going to love this book, and you are going to have more fun in the kitchen and be more impressed with what you can make than ever before.


Ingredients and equipment:

It also helps immensely to live in a great place like the San Francisco Bay Area where access to all things gastronomic are readily available. Between the wide variety of our farmers' markets, international groceries, organic health food stores, and the great outdoors, any outstanding ingredients list is pretty well covered in the Bay Area. If you live in an area where there's not as much selection, you'll need to be creative about substitution ingredients. Fortunately, Eric's books are good about telling you what other (perhaps less "exotic") ingredients would work well, what pieces you could leave out of the recipe and still have something stellar, and so forth.

You don't need a lot of specialized kitchen equipment to make these recipes. One assumes a blender and/or food processor and a basic set of quality knives and cookware. But you don't need all those stupid tchotchkes that have one use only, are impossible to clean and care for, and cost you a month's salary. Exquisite cooking is not defined by the fussiness of one's gadgets. (In my experience, reliance on fussy gadgetry is inversely related to cooking skill).


Oh, those gorgeous photos!:

One last thing: not every recipe in this book has a photo of the finished dish, but many do. The photos are works of art in and of themselves--the book is a visual feast as well as a collection of ideas for your own gustatory feast. Plus, with instructions that can seem at first to be very complicated, it's helpful to look at the photo and say "Oh, that's what he means by that!"

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To sum up:

1) The other reviewers are right that these recipes can be very time-consuming and complicated. Sometimes you want that--satisfies the inner chef-artiste in all of us;

2) The recipes are easily adaptable to be a lot less time-consuming and complicated, and Eric Tucker provides a lot of guidance on how to adapt the recipes;

3) You don't need to be an expert with a bunch of ridiculously complicated kitchen equipment to make the food in this book. You just need a bit of an experimental attitude, good solid basic kitchen equipment, and the willingness to have fun with new flavors, textures, ingredients, and ideas;

4) This shouldn't, however, be your first cookbook. You will likely enjoy the book most if you already have some experience fiddling around in the kitchen and are familiar with the basic terminology ("blanching" almonds, for example. Not too complicated--and there's a Basics section, a Techniques section, and a Glossary section in the back to help you with this stuff);

5) The Artful Vegan, along w/ Eric's earlier The Millennium Cookbook, took my cooking to a new level. It's doable, it's absolutely worth doing, and it's a heck of a lot of fun!

¡Buen provecho!

Wow!What an incredible collection of recipes. This book makes a wonderful gift for any person who loves to spend time in the kitchen.You can spend just a few minutes whipping up a delicious sauce or side dish or decide to spend the day in the kitchen and make your guests a four course meal they will never forget. The desserts are amazing, I have never seen anything like this. The directions are easy to follow and the result makes you feel like a professional chef.The flavors are unique and mouth watering. I recomend this book to everyone who loves to cook and of course eat. It truly is a piece of art and a must have!

This is the best vegetarian/vegan cookbook ever. I am a collector of cookbooks and it is always great to find one with new creative recipes and this one surpassed my expectations. I would not consider this book for beginner cooks the recipes are lengthy, not 30 minute meals. It also has in quite a few recipes hard to find or expensive ingredients. Although, if you are a creative cook or live near quality stores it shouldn't be too big of problem. When I bought this book, I bought another at the same time for my sister.

I purchased this book while in Culinary school to use for inspiration during our "spa cuisine" section. I still use it to this day, even though I am not a vegan. It has delicious recipes that are layered with flavor and texture experiences. I just love flipping through it for the photos as well. I LOVE this book. Anyone wishing to try a different style of eating or just eat meatless a few times a week would greatly benefit from this amazing book. Some of the dishes may be a bit complicated for a novice cook, but you can take several of the recipes and only prepare parts of them. The gnocci is AMAZING!

This is one of the most expensive cookbooks I have (and I also have Millenium). I love cooking and will do whatever it takes to make great dishes. However, when the recipes don't turn out, it's not worth my time or effort. I have found this to be the case with Artful. Two recipes completely did not work, even though I followed the directions exactly.

I will try a few more and write an update if I come across some decent recipes, but I can't help but wonder if these were even tested.

As many other reviewers have mentioned - this is not a beginner's guide to vegan cooking. I have never seen a cookbook like this one. When I make a recipe from this book I have to plan a shopping list ahead of time and read through the recipes before I start preparing them. It takes quite a bit of effort but is worth EVERY SECOND I spend on it. The flavors are downright tantalizing and the dishes plate so beautifully you feel like you are dining in a 5-star restaurant. If you love to cook and love wowing your dinner guests then this is a definite book for you.

The recipes are easy and straightforward to understand, creative, and very unique. I have made a number of items from this book all to rave reviews, all very easy to do. I would consider this a must have book for anyone serious about their culinary expertise, and serious about enjoying life as a Vegan. Best part- this is a fantastic book for Non-Vegans as well. I would stand all of these recipes up to conventional recipes and watch them knock the socks (and tastebuds)off of all of them.