Rover's: Recipes from Seattle's Chef in the Hat [Hardcover]

Thierry Rautureau (Author), Cynthia C. Nims (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

Sporting his trademark fedora, Thierry Rautureau prepares for another night at Rover's, his four-star restaurant; he is about to create culinary magic. Anyone who has dined at the charming 50-seat Seattle restaurant can testify to the French-born chef's exquisite dishes, artful presentations, and attention to creating a warm inviting atmosphere that makes you feel like you've stopped by a good friend's home for an elegant home-cooked meal. In ROVER'S, chef Rautureau and Northwest food writer Cynthia Nims present more than 100 recipes, including signature dishes such as Scrambled Eggs with Lime Cr?É‚Ä?me Fra?É‚Äúche and Caviar; Whole Roasted Striped Sea Bass with Fennel, Moroccan Olives, and Thyme Vinegar; Venison Medallions with P Parsnip Ragout, Apricots, and Mustard Sauce; and Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Cake. ROVER'S is truly a celebration of fine ingredients, dedication, perseverance, and delicious creations -all served with a tip of the hat and a French accent.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Of the great culinary traditions of the world, the French way with food remains an absolute ground zero for the Western kitchen and palate, a place to begin, a foundation from which to build anything. Julia Child had a look on her face when confronted on TV with foods of the world. It might have been a fabulous South Indian shrimp dish, a thing of dreams, and she would smack her lips appropriately and make the perfect murmurs of appreciation. But the look on her face simply said, "Well, it's not very French, is it?" Let Thierry Rautureau's Rover's bring out your latent Francophile. Here is the perfect permission to revel in some of the most glorious dishes you'll ever cook and consume.

Rover's, a small upscale Seattle restaurant is where Rautureau's level-headed passion for the French way with food met headlong all the fabulous foodstuffs of the Pacific Northwest. There's no pretension here, no orthodoxy. Just skill, improvisational talent, and years of experience. He's managed to build all that into a cookbook, written with Cynthia Nims, that will work in the home kitchen and stand out on the bookshelf for years to come. This is not a trendy cuisine that will fade into foolishness after a few years. Rover's is a root experience, a celebration of the best imaginable ingredients, and the culinary magic to transform them into memorable meals.

After brief introductions to food and wine pairing principles and seasonal menus, Rautureau divides his chapters into Salads, Soups, Cold Appetizers, Hot Appetizers, Vegetarian Main Courses, Seafood Main Courses, Meat Main Courses, Sorbets, Desserts, and the fabulous Rover's Foundation Recipes (all the stocks, flavored oils, cookies, and pastry doughs). He's particularly well-known for his vegetarian dishes. So be sure to check out the likes of Beet and Goat Cheese Tartlets with Walla Walla Sweet Onion Puree, or Red Bell Pepper Flan with Green Lentils and Rosemary Beurre Blanc. His Baked Alaskan Halibut with Morels, Ramps, and Smoked Bacon Butter Sauce is worth any effort.

Many of these recipes are challenging, and Rautureau tells you as much. But he encourages as well. He's truly an ambassador of heightened cuisine. With Rover's he extends his hand to novice and experienced cook alike to join him in his singular quest for deliciousness. Rover's couldn't serve as a better passport. --Schuyler Ingle

From the Publisher

An elegant cookbook from Seattle ’s beloved Chef in the Hat, Thierry Rautureau, with more than 100 recipes from the restaurant alongside gorgeous food and location photography.

Rover’s is a four-star dining destination, popular with out-of-town travelers, celebrities, and locals, and it has been awarded numerous honors and awards, including the Zagat Guide’s top-ranking Seattle restaurant spot every year since 1993.

Includes seasonal menus, wine pairing suggestions, extensive resources for locating specialty food items, and a glossary of ingredients and techniques.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; First Edition edition (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580084796
• ISBN-13: 978-1580084796
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.9 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,255,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Magician in the Hat reveals his secrets, November 6, 2005

By 

Tom Schwab (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rover's: Recipes from Seattle's Chef in the Hat (Hardcover)

The secrets are out! Thierry has lifted the curtain on the magic show he runs at his Seattle restaurant. Rover's Restaurant has and does define the superlative in Seattle and I think even transcends the category. Every detail is superb and the dining is an prix fixe experience. With this cookbook, now you can try and try to replicate the delicate and wonderful flavors in your own kitchen. Although the recipes are complex, they are also simple and not too intimidating (or is that wishful thinking). The steps to each dish are well explained and the preparation tips and ideas are very helpful. I also appreciate a lot of the substitution ideas that can accelerate the process. I expect to apply the techniques I am learning on other recipes too.

As you will find in the description, the menu is a combination of French continental together with various influences from around the world.

I am only through about 1/2 the recipes so far and I am extemely pleased. This book is well written and enjoyable to read. I think it would make an excellent gift to yourself. You will be gratified and proud to create any of these dishes and be very pleased to consume them! Get this before your friends do!

Please also note a typesetting error on page 169. Go ahead and see if you detect the missing ingredient in the Pinot Noir Sorbet. It needs 3/4 cup of sugar.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Chef in the Hat creates more magic!, January 2, 2006

By 

Daniel G. Nehls (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rover's: Recipes from Seattle's Chef in the Hat (Hardcover)

Ever since I first dined at Rover's, 12 years ago, it has been my favorite restaurant, and the yardstick by which I measure all other restaurants. The food, the presentation, the imagination, the service, the ambiance, the wine, and the personalities all combine for an experience that, time after time, reaches perfection. With that in mind, I have been eagerly awaiting the publication of this book to find out how the Chef in the Hat does it, and how I can try to duplicate it at home.

Thierry and Cynthia have been able to capture the essence of Rover's in this beautiful book, with a list of recipes that is both intriguing and enticing, without creating a "This was done by a trained professional, and should not be attempted at home," coffee table book (as so often is the case from well known chefs). There are amazing recipes here that can be prepared in a home kitchen, with outstanding results. The reason for this is that Thierry has suggestions about de-intimidating the recipes. He gives you suggestions for options from the full blown recipe to less demanding preparations, with more common ingredients. He acknowledges that the home chef does not have an army of minions and an unlimited pantry saying, "I'd rather have you cook the recipe and enjoy it without garnish, rather than have you panic about shrimp roe and chervil sprigs!" But, oh, what wonderful results!

The book is also a pleasure to read, as Thierry's charisma, humor and touching recollections about home and family add considerable warmth and charm, much like his visits to the tables do at Rover's.

This book will sit on my shelf, alongside books from Charlie Trotter's, the French Laundry, and Jean-Louis. The difference is that within a few months it will not look new, like the others do. Instead, I expect that it will look like my copy of Julia Child's, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with a broken spine and loose and spattered pages, from frequent use.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible Gourmet, July 16, 2010

By 

Susan E Randell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rover's: Recipes from Seattle's Chef in the Hat (Hardcover)

We bought this cookbook last year, but only started to really try it a few months ago. We're HUGE fans of Rover's restaurant and have been so impressed with the food that the idea that we could reproduce it ourselves at home seemed like it asked a lot of our cooking skills. Particularly my husband's. Until he picked up Chef Rautureau's book, he'd never cooked anything more complicated than 7-layer dip out of cans. He's now cooking up a storm! He can even whip up Rover's scrambled eggs with lime creme fraiche & caviar on a whim. The halibut with smoked bacon butter, morels, and ramps is particularly yummy, too. The parsnip ragout (that was an accompaniment to the Venison) has my teenager loving parsnips. And the carrot & ginger soup with roasted cauliflower is divine! We haven't even come close to trying everything in the book yet (we're trying to cook through the seasons and we started in Spring and it's only summer now...), but everything has been easier to execute than I'd have thought and tastes fantastic.

The explanation of how to do everything, even if it's something I'd normally consider complicated, is so well done that it makes these recipes perfectly accessible to the home cook. They don't always come out looking as beautiful as they do at Rover's when we do it, but they taste pretty much as good. Some of the ingredients can be hard to come by unless you live around Seattle, I think, but it's really a wonderful cookbook that makes you look impressive pretty easily.