Cool Hunting

The Silver Spoon
Phaidon Press is widely admired for making some of the best looking, best designed, and best printed design, art and photography books. When they announce the first cookbook in their catalog you know it's going to be something very special. The Silver Spoon has long been considered the bible of Italian cuisine. Originally published more than 50 years ago it was the first cookbook...

Higashiya Tea and Sweets
by Julie Wolfson Nestled between the shops and trees in Tokyo's tranquil Nakameguro neighborhood, Higashiya is a seasonal confection shop and tea bar selling traditional Japanese sweets in the setting of a rustic house. The brainchild of design firm Simplicity , Higashiya brilliantly integrates the old with the new. Known for adding modern twists to conventional crafts, designer and confectioner Shinichiro Ogata creates elegant dishes...

Ferran Adrià: A Day at elBulli + Giveaway
How does one become known as the most wildly inventive chef at what is often regarded as the best restaurant in the world? As the new book "A Day at elBulli" from Phaidon reveals, raw talent only takes you so far. The rest is planning, planning and more planning. No one understands that better perhaps than Ferran Adrià, whose attitude is that "ambition without...

Knife Skills Illustrated
As any semi-serious cook (or Food Network junkie) knows, the foundation of cooking is the ability to dice and pare with the best of them. While classes at the Culinary Institute might not be in your future, the recent "Knife Skills Illustrated" is a worthy alternative, collecting extensive methods and techniques for cutting fruits, vegetables and meats into one handy volume. With over 800 illustrations,...