Customer Reviews

The Tra Vigne Cookbook

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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I own over a 100 cookbooks. Generally after a couple of recipes I never touch the book again. However the Tra Vigne is the exception. I've cooked more than half of the recipes in the book and each one has been worth repeating. Any fan of Italian cooking seriously needs to include this book in their collection.

I've had the Tra Vigne Cookbook for a few years now, and I use it regularly. It's an attractive book, with beautiful photos and intriguing introductions to the recipes. It's hard to stop browsing once you open the book, and an inspiration to actually do some cooking. The dishes are great. The Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Sauce is a favorite, as is the Fusilli Michelangelo. My niece from Thailand, for whom I made this dish several years ago, still remembers and asks for it. (Read the intro to either of these dishes and you're likely to cook them.)

The book is arranged seasonally, with chapters on essential ingredients for each season. Spring ingredients include asparagus, garlic, peas, and potatoes. Summer ingredients include corn, tomatoes, and bell peppers. And so on. I shop at a grocery store, not a farmers market, and I've had a less-than-happy relationship with vegetables since infancy, so I was skeptical of the whole seasonal-cooking thing at first. But I enjoy browsing through the new season's recipes as the year changes, and I've tried dishes and ingredients that are not usually a part of my diet. It's hard to object to broccoli when it's served in a creamy Very Green Soup sprinkled with crunchy gremolata.

It would have been nice in book a subtitled "Seasons in the California Wine Country" to have more information about wine. Few recipes actually use wine and there is no advice on what wines to pair with the food.

Despite the elegant presentations shown in the photos, none of the recipes are too difficult to try. They're just challenging enough for the amateur cook who likes to do a little more than the usual home cooking. The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a lot of fun, and the food is delicious.

For long, outstanding chefs have encouraged us to shop and get the very freshest ingredients of the season, and then cook around them.

Here a master chef California Wine style aids us with just such a presentation of the four seasons based on produce of that season.

As I just purchased this and am in winter, tried the winter dishes and achieved spectacular results without extreme fuss. Flavors are intense and bold. Lemon-baked Sea Bass and Spinach Salad and Pumkin Polenta with Lamb Stew have certainly warmed up the winter blast at our table.

Format is wide, broad book, usually flanked by full-page photo of presentation next to recipe. Love this format since it lays so wonderfully on the counter cooking and is not tiny print.

This is truly a cookbook to go through the seasons with, cooking excellent, intensely flavored gourmet Italian, Meditterrean food.

To those already in the know, would you expect anything less from such an incredible place?

Of course not.

To those considering, consider no further. This book is IT! Why? Well:

Superb graphic design--almost worthy of the price of admission in itself.

The recipes--Absolutely perfect for implementing your own Pavlovian experiments. One almost begins salivating just thinking about the contents of the book.

The difficulty (of the above)--Minimally difficult. At times, the recipes can become a bit vexing for those who have only dabbled exclusively in (a) stir-fry; (b) deep-fried anything; (c) shake n' bake; or, (d) Stouffer's. Joking aside, some of the recipes are difficult. Most however, a very well suited to the novice chef.

The dialogue--Excellent. I can close my eyes and be in the courtyard...having those wonderful smells waft to and fro...the feel of the crisp air...particularly when there is that ever-so-slight chill in the air. Michael's wonderful abilities are no longer limited to the kitchen. They never were, mind you, however now others can realize that. The book will bring to mind an array of images and memories in a strikingly Steinbeck-ian, Hemingway-ian, Calvino-ian, or [insert your favorite author here]-ian way.

Get this book. It, in many very real ways, is more than a book of recipes.

You will enjoy it.

An excellent cookbook for someone who loves to cook. The recipes I've tried turn out very much like the dishes served at the restaurant. The recipes are easy to follow but can be complicated; not for a novice cook. The photographs are beautiful and the suggestions to adjust the dish according to the climate/season are useful. This book continues to be one of the ones I always reach for when wondering what to make for a special dinner.

I have had this book for over a year and have tried several of his recipes which all comes out great. It is one of the few cookboos that I have which I use often. The recipes are easy to follow, simple, and most important of all, delicious. I espcially like the stuffed pepper recipe. It is also a book one can sit down to read for leisure. Plus there are lots of tips, not just recipes.

After seeing this cookbook it's hard to decide what is more beautiful - the recipes or the graphic design. I just finished the 'portabello mushroom fixed like a steak' recipe and it was spectacular. Can't wait to try more! Although the recipes are a little more complicated than most cookbooks, I would recommend it for anyone who is passionate about food. It is certainly my new favorite.

the tra vigne cookbook is going on the top shelf of my fairly extensive cookbook collection. It is definately one that I will use frequently.The photos and text are exceptionally well done,the book lies flat and the print is easy to read. the instructions are so clearly written and the information so extensive that I would not hesitate to recommend it even for novice cooks. The glossary and chef's notes are particularly helpful if you are unfamiliar with some of the methods or ingredients.I couldn't wait for spring to try the asparagus pesto....absolutely wonderful.This book is worth it's price and then some

This is a wonderful culinary book. It's more than a cookbook, as it focuses on various vegetables, etc. of the season, then uses those featured ingredients in several great recipes. If you've ever eaten at Tra Vigne in the Napa Valley town of St. Helena, you can even picture in your mind Michael in the kitchen, and almost taste the restaurant's just-pressed olive oil. If you know anyone who likes to read culinary books (like my mom, who literally reads cookbooks cover to cover, then goes back to earmark certain recipes), you should give them this book for the holidays. It is a beautiful, coffee table-quality, glossy work.

some of us are lucky enough to live only several blocks away from this amazing restaurant, sit and gaze at the stars while dining in the magnificent courtyard... and be continually spoiled by chefs like Michael Chiarello and the wonderful food & wines of napa valley. If you can't be here... then this cookbook is one way of bringing the Napa Valley to your home with the incredible Italian recipes found inside. Michael is a great story teller, and a great chef. his ideas are as important as his food, and his style really comes across on each page.