Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains (Paperback)

by Todd Wilbur (Author) "When Bill and T.J. Palmer opened their first restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1980, they realized their dream of building a full-service, reasonably-priced restaurant in..." (more)
Key Phrases: nacho slices, menu description, onion straws, Monterey Jack, Big Boy, Pizza Hut (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Long before scientists in Scotland cloned Dolly the sheep, Todd Wilbur was hard at work replicating recipes from some of America's favorite restaurant chains. Armed with Ziploc bags for transporting leftovers and plenty of questions for his servers, Wilbur has combined the skills of a private eye and a research scientist to devise the tasty clones included in Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. Wilbur honed his technique on convenience food, creating exact duplicates of everything from a Big Mac to a Twinkie; in this book, however, he sets his sights on slightly more sophisticated fare. Within these pages you'll find sure-fire recipes for such chain favorites as Hard Rock Cafe's Famous Baby Rock Watermelon Ribs, Cheese Blintzes from the International House of Pancakes, and The Olive Garden's Hot Artichoke-Spinach Dip. Denny's, Shoney's, The Cheesecake Factory, and Pizza Hut are just a few of the many chain restaurants from which popular menu items have been "cloned." So the next time you have a hankering for Tony Roma's World Famous Ribs or a slice of Red Robin's Mountain High Mud Pie, don't bother to go out--instead, eat in with Top Secret Restaurant Recipes.

From Booklist
As restaurant chains proliferate, their food expresses a culinary Gresham's law: bad food drives out good. Wilbur, building on the popularity of his books revealing McDonald's Big Mac special sauce and Twinkies' filling, continues to plumb the shallows of chain-restaurant cooking. Here he tells the home cook how to make favorite dishes from such popular chains as Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, and dozens more. What Wilbur cleverly uncovers are legal constructs more than culinary creations (witness the blizzard of trademark bullets appearing next to virtually every name). Wilbur's blueprint diagrams of food add to a perception of these comestibles as food engineering. Nevertheless, this book will be eagerly sought by library patrons delving for just the sort of chain-restaurant secrets Wilbur unveils. Mark Knoblauch

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Plume (June 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452275873
• ISBN-13: 978-0452275874
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,005 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Food & Lodging > Dining
  #7 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Diets & Weight Loss > Food Counters
  #31 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Regional & International > U.S. Regional

• This item is part of The Top Secret Recipes Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Fantastic book!, January 11, 2000

By	Angela Watts "Watty" (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found that the book was a great investment for people who might not have the funds or the patience to be at the restaurants all the time to have great food. Everything that I've made has been excellent, and though I'm sure that the author tried to find the closest ingredients that could be found with ease at your local market (and in comments to the people who gave a bad review that he couldn't find the ingredients out of the country, we're lucky someone has found a way for us to make the recipes at ALL! How's he supposed to know you can't get Mayo where you are and what substitution you could use in its place? ) Also to the person who made the comment about it not being "gourmet fare" the recipes that are in the book aren't supposed to all be gourmet fare, they're supposed to be recipes most people LOVE & it wasn't like you couldn't look over the book and judge if it was for you before you bought it! I LOVE this book, and it looks like everyone else does too! Great Job Todd! THANKS!

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't leave home without it, February 22, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

If you happen to move overseas, it can be a great experience. However,when homesickness sets in and you want ribs, this book is a lifesaver. Let's face it, despite our reluctance to admit it, we all love some of the food from American chain restaurants (or why would they have proliferated across the country the way they have?) And if you want to give an American-style dinner, this book is really fun to have.

In addition to the ribs (reason I got the book) there is a terrific cinnabon clone which is a great Sunday brunch item, as are the blinzes. This is not HAUTE Cuisine, but sure is fun.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as good or better than the real thing!, July 26, 2000

By	J. Austin "jodylync" (Dublin, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cookbook is great! I haven't made every recipe in this book, but I have come close. Some of these items I have actually had. Some I haven't so I can't honestly say that these recipes are dead on with the real thing. What I can tell you is that I have enjoyed these recipes immensely. Favorites are Cheesecake Factory's Pumpkin Cheesecake (a new Thanksgiving tradition), Planet Hollywood Chicken Crunch, Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole, and Hard Rock's Orange Freeze just to name a few. Todd is very good with the instructions and extra tips. For example, with the Outback's Walkabout Soup (another favorite) he tells you to be very careful when stirring or you will tear the onions. A highly recommended book!