Atelier Crenn

August 1, 2015

French chef Crenn was the first woman to earn two Michelin stars in the United States for her San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn. In her first cookbook, she writes of her early life and the struggles and successes of being a restaurant owner and chef. Most of the recipes are for single bites that take hours to make and require the use of tweezers to plate. Crenn believes in the sustainable food movement and recommends the use of local, fresh vegetables and seafood. Divided into sections: plant, sea, land, dream (desserts), and craft (broths, syrups, bread), the book offers clearly written, although unusual, recipes including such dishes as white chocolate salsify or sea urchin with licorice. Each supplies directions, equipment, and the time needed to prepare and plate. Many ingredients will require trips to specialty shops or online orders: agar-agar, locust bean gum, and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) among them. VERDICT Adventurous cooks with time and money will enjoy attempting Crenn's recipes, but most others will be content to read the recollections and recipes, enjoy the artful photographs, and dream of a dinner at Atelier Crenn.--Christine E. Bulson, emeritus, Milne Lib., SUNY at Oneonta

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2015
French-born chef Crenn sees herself principally as an artist, no mere crafter of food. Even the name of her renowned San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn, evokes less an idea of a kitchen than of a painter's or sculptor's studio, more easels than ovens. To achieve her art, Crenn operates in the rarefied world of molecular gastronomy. All manner of specialized ingredients appear: mesocel and maltodextrin, both of which allow the cook to achieve architecturally designed foods that could not otherwise be manipulated into such distinctive contours. Dehydrators and sous-vide cookers also transform raw materials to intensify flavors and textures. Plates come out of her kitchen as beautiful to behold as to savor. Even her menus are worded as poetry. Patrons are awed, and Michelin's inspectors have awarded her two stars, the only female American chef so decorated. Culinary adventurers will discover in detail here how Crenn's food ascends to such aesthetic pinnacles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)