cover image The Tribeca Grill Cookbook: Celebrating Ten Years of Taste

The Tribeca Grill Cookbook: Celebrating Ten Years of Taste

Don Pintabona. Villard Books, $35 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-375-50435-8

In his first cookbook, chef Pintabona celebrates a decade spent in the kitchen of Tribeca Grill, the stylish New York City restaurant owned by restaurateur Drew Nieporent and celebrity investors such as Robert De Niro, Bill Murray and Mikhail Baryshnikov. A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Pintabona creates lauded ""contemporary American"" cooking that draws upon diverse influences: his Sicilian heritage, a stint in France with the legendary Georges Blanc, and his extensive travels throughout Asia. The home cook-friendly recipes are appealingly familiar, yet globally inspired, starring Lemon Thyme Chicken Salad with Beefsteak Tomatoes, Spicy Chickpea and Tomato Soup, and Morel and Foie Gras Bread Pudding. Pintabona also doles out friendly advice (Farfalle with Duck, Wild Mushrooms and Rosemary Cream Sauce ""wows guests on a chilly fall evening""), preparation tips, wine suggestions and celebrity trivia--readers learn, for example, that Mushroom Palmiers were a vegetarian hors d'oeuvre served at Madonna's Truth or Dare premiere party. Accessible, creative and well-conceived, Pintabona's recipes offer readers a chance to eat like the stars--even if they'll never dine with them at Tribeca Grill. Placed on bookshelves devoted to New York City, this selection will especially pique the interest of Gotham's celebrity-gazers. (Nov.)