Nicolaus Balla

Here's a cookbook destined to be talked-about this season, rich in techniques and recipes epitomizing the way we cook and eat now. Bar Tartine—co-founded by Tartine Bakery's Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt—is obsessed over by locals and visitors, critics and chefs. It is a restaurant that defies categorization, but not description: Everything is made in-house and layered into extraordinarily flavorful food. Helmed by Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, it draws on time-honored processes (such as fermentation, curing, pickling), and a core that runs through the cuisines of Central Europe, Japan, and Scandinavia to deliver a range of dishes from soups to salads, to shared plates and sweets. With more than 150 photographs, this highly anticipated cookbook is a true original.