Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google

Simple, forthright and one page is too bright I bought this book for the wrong reason. I've had Charlie's catering. He came to Tattered Cover in Colorado for a reading, and well, I had to be there. Charlie and his sweetie Kimmie are awesome people I wanted to support. I never realized HOW good a cook (and at heart, I'd rather have a good cook than a bad chef) he was until we hired him for one New Year's shindig in Denver, but I remember the drool-worthy Google menu coming out on a listserv for a band named Zero. As I was living on rice and ramen, I cursed him everyday. Loudly. I assumed I'd have a cookbook that was pretty to look at but would not see much use. Wrong. This book is a keeper, aside from the Red Page of Doom where the type is unreadable and the inability to get the shots in focus (and what is up with the parsnips page? Every time I flip past it I hear "One of these things is not like the others" in my head). Get this book for the granola recipe alone. The Google hot sauce is a bonus (and really is good with a peanut butter sandwich)and is easily made vegetarian (the original has fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce). Then make two dishes each week. Yes, the photography leaves a bit to be desired, although the journalistic shots capture Charlie's spirit well. I hope a redesign is in the stars for this one. Pick it up, pour a handcrafted beer or kombucha and enjoy reading through it a time or two before diving in as a cook.