Once Upon a Tart...: Soups, Salads, Muffins, and More (Hardcover)

by Frank Mentesana (Author), Jerome Audureau (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Once Upon a Tart offers 225 recipes from the eponymous Manhattan shop, which, in addition to sweet and savory tarts, prepares delicious soups, salads, and muffins. Both book and shop are the work of business partners Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau, whose Soho store has flourished for almost a decade, providing notable quality while expanding tart-consciousness. Among the tart recipes, particularly winning are the Zucchini Tart with Curried Custard and Dried Currants; Roasted Ratatouille Tart with Herbes de Provence; Chocolate Pear Tart; and Jerome's Mother's Famous Almond Tart, a melt-in-your mouth confection. Equally good are the recipes for sandwiches, such as pork loin with frisée and rosemary-garlic aïoli; soups, including black-bean-and-pumpkin with cinnamon and ginger; scones, like honey caramel; and quick breads and cookies, such as Apple-Cranberry Muffins and Rosie's Peanut Butter Cookies.

What makes the book especially worthy is its instructive approach. The recipes themselves contain useful technical guideposts (the authors zero-in on desirable unbaked dough texture--"just past crumbly, but still holding together"), and there are many illuminative asides, both personal and to-the-point ("'Each variation on an ingredient changes the taste and texture of the cookie,' says Frank--this kind of thing excites him," is one). With its attention to the personal, the book is also something of an autobiography à deux, and readers will enjoy getting to know the authors, one very French, one solidly American. Illustrated with color photos, and with useful notes on equipment and fundamental processes, such as How to Deal with Eggplant, the book should please bakers at all skill levels. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Once Upon a Tart, a charming cafe in New York's SoHo, was founded by two refugees from hotel management intent on a dream. Audureau, who ran a tarterie in Avignon, France, his home town, saw that New York had not discovered this French lunch delight the savory tart, with its accoutrements of salads and the finish of a sweet. Jersey-born Mentesana learned to cook from his Italian grandmother. The cafe chefs add unusual twists to traditional recipes for example Zucchini Tart with Curried Custard and Dried Currants and Chickpea-Tomato Soup with Fresh Rosemary. Zestful loving touches, such as Tomato Chutney with Golden Raisins as a spread for sandwiches, are what make this book and the cafE a standout. In chatty, accessible style, Audureau and Mentesana explain everything from blanching vegetables to how to cool tart crust and how to make apricot glaze for sweet tarts. The cafE's regulars will be ecstatic to have this generous offering of recipes for their favorite tarts, scones, tea breads, and cookies, such as My Mother's Are Better Ginger Cookies and the Chocolate-Pecan French-Style Macaroons. Each section, from salads to condiments, is carefully presented and full of ideas and hints. The lunchbox-size book (9 x 7) and lovely photos make for a cozy, lighthearted presentation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375413162
• ISBN-13: 978-0375413162
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,231 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of the Tart, September 14, 2003

By	rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Don't miss out on reading the Intro. Here is an inspirational story of the beginnings of two people who fall in love with what they do--tarts.

Here are their tried and true recipes, for which they've made them over and over again. The results are yours for the baking. To do this there are great sections on equipment, technique.

Not only for tarts, but salds, soups and muffins, brownies, cookies, etc.

I'm particularly impressed with "Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Tart with Basil" "Chocolate-Banana Tart" "Black Plum and Honey Tart".

The Summer Berry Scones are knock outs and The Crunchy Dried Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Cookies are killers also.

This will be a fun book for the home gourmet to mess around with and discover new cook with your hands baked goods to eat with the fingers food!

Well done with great reading thorughout, especially with the fun side bars scattered throughout.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baking my way through Once Upon a Tart, June 7, 2003

By	melissa "mtalarico" (new york, new york USA) - See all my reviews

I received this book as a gift a few weeks ago and I cannot stop baking!! It is filled with wonderful receipes, photos and information. The receipes are very easy to follow, even for a novice baker like myself, and the results are just outstanding. My friends, family and colleagues are now clamoring for "my tarts" and "my scones". The orange scones with chocolate chips, on page 254 are my favorite. But I am sure I will find others. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves food, even if they do not bake, as the book is fun to read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These guys are real sweet tarts!!!!, June 7, 2003

By A Customer

For someone who has minimal baking/cooking skills, I found the book user friendly, with beautiful, lush photographs. As well, Mr. Audureau's humor is very charming and disarming allowing you to feel confident in executing these yummy treats. By the end of the book, you too will feel you can open you own little tart shop in the south of France. Enjoyable read!