Here's my problem with this book: it's just fucking profoundly beautiful, food-wise but also almost entirely useless to me, as a home cookbook, considering the difficulty of preparing most of this stuff at home. I'm burned out by the "let me brag about how amazing I am while making constant snarky comments about everything that doesn't live up to my personal vision. A lot of "I'm just a dude, why am I oh so successful" is kinda annoying, as well as the "I'm an asshole and a bully in the kitchen and I throw temper tantrums at my employees. They gave people what they thought they wanted, up front, even though it wasn’t efficient or what they really wanted to do. He has a direct style, a cutting edge to his writing that displays a deep understanding of food and why food is good.

But it would be hard for any passionate cook, or artist, or anyone who’s interested in the creative process, not to devour this book. And to an extent that can come across as a “humble brag”, but his specific word choices lead me to believe that he legitimately believes it. Much like Justin Warner’s cookbook, it’s not necessarily that Momofuku makes me want to cook recipes from IT, but rather, that it simply makes me more confident about cooking in general.The way the book flows-from the ramen restaurant, to a more standard sit-down, to the 12-seat gastro-shrine of Momofuku Ko-demonstrates Chang's breadth of genius so quietly that one must finish reading from cover to cover before it becomes apparent. Scary-smart, funny, and ambitious, the wildly creative Chang is the guy all chefs have got to measure themselves by these days. The technique I favoured was improvised from Chang’s book, but it’s a common method in kitchens the world over: the belly is brined, slowly braised or roasted, and then pressed and chilled overnight before being portioned (the pressing and chilling makes it incredibly easy to transform into neat little rectangles).

During the six years I ran the Hole in the Wall, I must have cooked pork belly at least once a week. This book, I feel, has an unsung quality of voice, in the hands of Peter Meehan, who I know is the co-author, and likely the reason the cookbook exists at all. With three types of Mexican chilis, crunchy garlic and shallots, Chili Crunch is the perfect balance of spicy and crunchy. David Chang is a Michelin-starred chef working predominantly in New York City, and this cookbook is of the recipes he used in his restaurants. His journey from religion studies graduate to renowned chef was interesting to read, and his drive to produce food that is, at once both true to his Korean roots yet elevated without pretension, is translated beautifully in this cookbook/memoir of his start in the restaurant world.The reviews are sponsored; the resulting articles are unbiased, and the opinions expressed are my own. In other completely delightful news, Vanderlyle was recently listed in the Good Food Guide with a rating of ‘very good’ - I’m so proud of the entire team who have worked their collective socks off to earn this accolade, and we’re humbled to be listed alongside some truly excellent company, both on a local and national scale. Filled with 150 gorgeous, full-color photos and an engrossing narrative, this book is a treat for the eye, mind and palate. The ever erudite Anthony Bourdain says that he is “the guy all chefs have got to measure themselves by, these days. There are things we say in the kitchen, a codified lexicon, that explain some of the kitchen mentality at Ko.