'Best Of The Best' Cookbook, From James Beard Foundation, Showcases Chefs' Iconic Dishes (PHOTOS)

Every year since 1991, the James Beard Foundation picks one chef, out of all the hundreds of thousands in America, to be its Outstanding Chef of the Year. The 22 chefs who've been selected in those years represent the titans of the food industry. Some have become TV celebrities with hundreds of thousands of followers and others have been content to refine their craft and business at one stellar restaurant. But they're all remarkable cooks -- and have a lot to teach us.

If you want to learn from them, you could go out and buy cookbooks by, if not all, then most of the 22. Or you could buy one new cookbook -- The James Beard Foundation's "Best of the Best," released this week -- that includes several recipes by all but one. (Jose Andres entered the pantheon too late to be included, so you'll just have to buy one of his books if you want to duplicate the great food at places like Jaleo and minibar.)

"Best of the Best" commemorates the 25th birthday of the James Beard Foundation. It features, in addition to the recipes, profiles and pictures of the first 21 winners of the Outstanding Chef award.

One of the best reasons to investigate the book, which is written by Kit Wohl and has a foreword by Martha Stewart, is Susie Cushner's ravishing photos of these master chefs' iconic dishes. Need proof? Click through below for eight of our favorite pictures from the book.

Excerpt used with permission was taken from "The James Beard Foundation’s Best of the Best: A 25th Anniversary Celebration of America’s Outstanding Chefs published by Chronicle Books" (March 7, 2012; $60.00 U.S). Text copyright 2011 by Kit Wohl for the James Beard Foundation; photographs copyright 2011 by Susie Cushner.

Comments

[robertsandimas]

10:32 AM on 03/22/2012

There's an awful lot of "judge-mentality" here. Or perhaps just envy? I've never been to one of the 4 Star restaurants but my goal is French Laundry. That would be a once in a lifetime event for me.

[LibertarianCentrist]

10:12 AM on 03/12/2012

They all look delicious, but can't do sea urchin.... :)

[theseattlecook]

04:49 AM on 03/12/2012

great work! great!

[camanokat]

10:24 PM on 03/11/2012

Oh, yum yum yum. I want that Caesar salad ice cream!

[ElCojonuo]

11:32 PM on 03/10/2012

La Cojonua ( my wife ) is the best cook I've ever ran into.
She just made a Lomo and Shrimp Saltado ( a Peruvian dish made with strips of Top Sirloin, Medium Shrimps cooked with Onions, Tomatoes, Peruvian thinly sliced potatoes with all the condiments and Olive Oil on a bed of white rice cooked in a garlic sauce ) that ROCKED.
We had a bottle of 2001 Allighieri Amarone with it, followed by home made Tiramisu and a double Espresso that I followed with a Cohiba Esplendido and lots of Duque D' Alba Spanish Brandy ( 25 years right out of the bottle - Winston Churchill's favorite Brandy ).
To all single guys and gals out there - find a partner that likes to cook and treat them well.
Restaurant food gets old and expensive; besides, at home you get better service with the right music and AMBIENCE.

[Dubagee]

03:49 PM on 03/10/2012

AHH HA HA HA! The egg with it's little caviar hat is hysterical. Totally wanna snarf it down though!

http://youtu.be/JHttdp6_JZM
http://youtu.be/_UHQQ2KX3Ys
http://gigieatscelebrities.com

[OutAtFirst]

01:38 PM on 03/10/2012

The Dan Barber dish is available for home delivery: 1-800-Flowers

[giftoflife898]

01:19 PM on 03/10/2012

Where's the Beef?

[idontcare761]

11:30 AM on 03/10/2012

I'm sorry , I know some flowers are edible , but, it doesn't mean I want to eat them. If I want flowers , it's in my garden or in a vase , not my plate.

[carolecray]

09:37 AM on 03/10/2012

Certainly you could have found someone in Chicago. Chicago is certainly as gustatory as NYC and LA. Not to mention that I'm not sure I would eat any of the foods you mentioned. Twigs and sticks, folks, twigs and sticks.

[Paws Up]

11:56 AM on 03/10/2012

I would have added in something from Grant Achatz rather than Mario Batali. twigs and sticks? Not sure what you're trying to say. is that the portion size? You do realize that in these types of restaurants, you are served smaller portions so you can have room for all of the other courses you will be served. Here is how Thomas Keller describes the experience:
“Every day we create two unique nine-course tasting menus–chef’s tasting and a tasting of vegetables–each a series of smaller focused dishes. No single ingredient is ever repeated throughout the meal. What we want you to experience is that sense of surprise when you taste something so new, so exciting, so comforting, so delicious, you think, “Wow” -and then its gone. We want to the peak sensation on the palate to be all that you feel. So we serve a series of small courses meant to excite your mind, satisfy your appetite and pique your curiosity. We want you to say , “I wish I had just one more bite of that.” And then the next plate arrives and the same thing happens, but in a different way, a whole new flavor and feel and emotion.”

[bigbe]

06:09 PM on 03/10/2012

All you can eat for ten bucks! The one surprise I don't need is the bill. The arrogance of these restaurants is appalling. Go out and work for a living instead of catering to overly rich snobs and you will be more interested in filling your stomach than worrying about the appearance to such a degree.
Give me fried chicken and homemade noodles over mashed redskin potatoes any day instead of splattering a few smears of some wierd sauce around a plate of $90 a pound esoteric weeds.
The people working their asses off to make these people super rich can't even afford to have most of these ingredients on hand.

[daigz]

12:59 PM on 03/09/2012

Caviar on top of an unpeeled egg? So fancy..

[Paws Up]

11:34 AM on 03/10/2012

Thats because the shell is intended to be eaten out of. An egg cutter is used just to open the top part and the egg cup holds the egg up.

[FarmerBee]

07:05 PM on 03/08/2012

Batalli's was the only appetizing one. There's a difference between presentation and artsy fartsy froufrou.

[idontcare761]

11:28 AM on 03/10/2012

Heh , I loved the way you put that , said what I wanted to say.

[tef59]

03:09 PM on 03/08/2012

Tom Colicchio's food looks as hot as he is:)

[Paintio]

07:05 PM on 03/07/2012

Yum