Customer Reviews

the girl & the fig cookbook: More than 100 Recipes from the Acclaimed California Wine Country Restaurant

5 star:		(6)
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This book by restaurant owner Sondra Bernstein, with recipes by executive chef John Toulze represents the cuisine served at a chain of Sonoma County based restaurants after which the book is titled. Based on the passions of Ms. Bernstein and her staff, the book and the restaurants focus on figs; dishes based on figs; the produce of Sonoma County; the cuisine of Provence, France; and the similarity of the terroir of Sonoma with Provence.

One object of the book is to publicize the chain of restaurants and the line of products based on the owner's love of figs. This is not too unusual, as I am certain this is one of the motives behind every celebrity chef / restaurant owner's cookbook. Some, like Tom Colicchio are less obvious about this interest. Others, like Emeril Lagasse, are pretty out front about this objective. All restaurant based cookbooks aim at providing the reader with some twist to their cuisine or it's presentation which adds sugar to the bait to create an interest in the restaurant(s).

One special feature of this book is borrowed from Ms. Bernstein's distinguished California culinary neighbor, Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. This is the addition of sidebars on some of the restaurants' more important, or, at least, more interesting suppliers. This includes fig, mushroom, and cheese vendors, past and present. This highlights one weakness to the book, in that it is so thoroughly based on what is available from the gardens and vineyards of Sonoma County. Not everyone in the United States is blessed with access to wild mushrooms and the talented foragers who supply them, or to cheeses from artisinal cheese makers. Happily, the chef / recipe writer has supplied generally available products to substitute for his Sonoma pantry.

The cornerstone of the book's cuisine is the parallel between the Sonoma and Provence produce and the cuisine which can be based on that similarity. Therefore, it should be no surprise to see most recipes appear to be straight out of the pages of books by Patricia Wells and Lydie Marshall. One of the most pleasant parallels is that the Bernstein / Toulze cuisine is based on fairly simple recipes, often with the kind of recipe modularity of sauces and pantry preparations common to an influence from Julia Child. The recipes for stocks, for example are about as simple as they come. There is no Thomas Keller / Judy Rodgers obsessiveness about technique here. Most recipes follow a recent quote I heard from Wolfgang Puck who said that the trick was to start with great ingredients and try not to mess them up. There are some unusual twists, such as the cooking oil of choice, a `blended oil' of one part olive oil and three parts canola oil. I am totally baffled that disciples of Provencal cuisine should eschew pure olive oil.

The recipes are organized by size and role of the dish rather than by main ingredient. Recipe chapters are:

`a small bite' hors d'ourves with figs, radishes, mushrooms, olives, shellfish, charcuterie, and crackers
`from the garden to the stockpot' soups, including many Provencal classics
`in the salad bowl' with lots of vinaigrettes, figs, asparagus, beans, endive, beets, walnuts, and cheese
`large plates' 25 familiar dishs such as pastas, coq au vin, duck cassoulet, and lamb shanks
`sauce over and under' with lots of butter, aioli, pistou, rouille, citrus, shallots, remoulade, and figs
`on the side' with lots of balsamic reductions, familiar vegetable, polenta, couscous, olives, mushrooms...
`sweets' with lots of figs, apples, pears, nuts, lavender, cheese, and cream

The cuisine owes a fair amount to the exchange of cuisine between Provence and northern Italy, with a fairly substantial contingent of recipes involving pasta, risotto, polenta, cipollini onions and balsamic vinegar. This makes the abandoning pure olive oil in favor of the blended oil even more puzzling. In spite of this mystery, I am certain that these recipes, especially those based on figs, are superior to many and worthy of the authors' dedication to Provence.

One very serious aspect of the restaurants' connection to Provence is Ms. Bernstein's commitment to wines based on varietals originating in the Rhone valley rather than the wines which made Napa and Sonoma wines famous. These are the Carignane, cinsault, Grenache, Roussanne, Syrah and Vognier grapes. All but the Syrah are unfamiliar to me, but that's just a symptom of my ignorance of wine. Each recipe gives a very simple recommendation of wine selected from this list. The emphasis on simple is important to contrast it to the elaborate, sometimes arcane recommendations given by Patricia Wells and others.

The authors' dedication to their chosen cuisine and their featured product is genuine and fruitful, producing many simultaneously simple and worthy recipes. There are occasionally long recipes for standards such as cassoulet and coq au vin, but that should be no surprise. They have convinced me to look forward to a visit to their restaurants if I ever get to northern California.

Recommended recipes for even novice cooks. A good read at a fairly reasonable list price. If you already own 10 books on Provence cuisine, you may want to take a pass.

I own and have cooked from countless cookbooks so my expectations are very high and this book delivered on them in spades. It includes more than 100 recipes from The Girl & the Fig restaurant and all strike a perfect balance of being refined and elegant with being appropriate for preparing in the home. You also don't have to visit The Girl & the Fig to appreciate it. I've never been and I still love these recipes.

What makes this book a five star cookbook for me is that all of the recipes are very unique. I didn't feel like I was reading a collection of recipes I've seen elsewhere. Best of all, they turn out flawlessly. Of everything I have made so far my favorites are The Chicken Liver Mousse and Biscones. The latter has become my go-to recipe whenever I want to serve something like a berry shortcake. It was also the first recipe for a scone/biscuit recipe I've made that called for chopped hardboiled egg. I was also impressed with the mousse because although it was time consuming it wasn't challenging to make. It didn't really require any specialized skills.

I think this book would be most appreciated by someone who likes refined flavors, isn't afraid to try more unusual or less mainstream ingredients (i.e. chicken livers), and who doesn't mind spending a little time in the kitchen. Most of the recipes have taken me well over 30 minutes and often have long ingredient lists. However, if neither of these things bother you the results are worth it. All the dishes are restaurant quality so you feel like you're getting a classy meal in the comfort of your home.

Highly recommended.

For me, this book was a fun and very usable introduction to a new world of foods...and the Rhone-style wines that go with them.

I admit it: I'd rather go to Sonoma than to Napa. And when I do go to Sonoma, I always try to visit the author's restaurant, The Girl and The Fig, located on the corner of the Town Square. When I can't be there, I love using the book at home to remind me of being there.

I like this book a lot and use it about once a month.

As a local who lives and works within two blocks of the girl & the fig restaurant, I admit to being biased, but I just have to correct the previous reviewer: the girl & the fig restaurant is not and has never been a chain! There's only one restaurant, and it's my favorite place to take visitors who want to experience authentic Sonoma Valley cuisine at its very yummiest and most inspiring. The cookbook is a delicious introduction to the area for foodies who are still planning their first visit ... and a great way to keep the experience alive for those who can't wait to come back. I highly recommend it.

I purchased this for a Christmas present and she loved it! There are some recipes that are a little too fancy for my taste, but otherwise this book includes great recipes to serve with individual wines.

My first experience with Girl and the Fig was it's first home in Glenn Ellen, CA. which is still there. The restaurant quickly became a favorite. The newer restaurant in the town of Sonoma, also excellent, has a wonderful bar. Great place to join friends for a glass of wine from their excellent wine list or enjoy one of the best martinis. They have also opened a restaurant in Petaluma, CA.
I am delighted that they have finally come out with this wonderful cook book. It represents the best of the Girl and the Fig's cuisine. I love to cook and I am thrilled to have this cook book in my collection.