Come In, We're Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World's Best Restaurants

by Christine Carroll, Jody Eddy, Ferran Adrià (Foreword)

Peer behind the “closed” sign in the world’s greatest restaurants, and you may glimpse a packed table whose seats are elusive even to the most in-the-know the daily staff meal. This insider’s look goes behind the scenes to share the one-of-a-kind dishes professional cooks feed each other.
Join authors Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy as they share these intimate staff meal traditions, including exclusive interviews and never-before-recorded recipes, from twenty-five iconic restaurants Ad Hoc in Napa, California; Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain; The Fat Duck in London, England; McCrady's in Charleston, South Carolina; Uchi in Austin, Texas; Michel et Sébastien Bras in Laguiole, France; wd~50 in New York City, New York, and many more.

Enjoy more than 100 creative and comforting dishes made to sate hunger and nourish spirits, like skirt steak stuffed with charred scallions; duck and shrimp paella; beef heart and watermelon salad; steamed chicken with lily buds; Turkish red pepper and bulgur soup; homemade tarragon and cherry soda; and buttermilk doughnut holes with apple-honey caramel glaze. It’s finally time to come in from the cold and explore the meals that fuel the hospitality industry; your place has been set.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Culinary, Reference

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2012

Reviews

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to jump into this book and stay there until I have devoured everything each restaurant offers up for their family style staff dinners. Or at least I want to just be there listening and watching and soaking up all the creative food juices.

This book is divided by restaurant, with a listing of the foods for the staff dinner at the beginning, then a section about the restaurant, including an interview with the head chef, followed by the recipes for each course.

AD HOC - serves Grilled little gems with torn garlic croutons and citrus vinaigrette, Skirt steak stuffed with charred scallions, Red fresno chile-garlic sauce, Skillet-glazed trumpet mushrooms, and Chocolate-peanut butter crunch bars.

ANNISA - serves Fried scallion jeon, Spicy kimchi, tofu, and squid hot pot (Kimchichigae), and Wagyu beef bubimbap.

COCHON - serves Chili-basil watermelon and tomato salad, Blue crabs with siracha butter, and Chicken and eggplant rice noodles.

HERBFARM - serves Whole herb vinaigrette with mixed greens, Iowa-style fried chicken, Strawberry shortcake with orange and thyme biscuits, and Homemade tarragon and cherry soda.

Incidentally, that is where I started, because I really, really, REALLY wanted to make that soda. I'll let you know how it turns out!

There are so many more restaurants in here and so much good food, and plenty of pictures. I'm drooling.

[Mike Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful cookbook because you get a variety of cooking methods and menu styles that you can adapt to whatever you have lying around. Plus it is a fun look behind the scenes of some incredible restaurants, including some we know and love.

I’ll also rate individual recipes below as we try them:

Ad Hoc’s Grilled Little Gem’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ad Hoc’s Skirt Steak Stuffed with Charred Scallions ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ad Hoc’s Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars ⭐️⭐️⛅️

[Leanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read cookbooks for fun - a lot of the time they’re very technical, scientific, or just plain novel. This book was a story about the meaning of family and food, and a great insight into restaurant culture. I’m a huge fan of Ferran Adria and have his book on El Bulli constantly on my coffee table. His and his fellow author’s insight and commentary on the role of staff meal in fostering an environment of unity, creativity, and reverent respect of food - scraps and all - was incredibly interesting. The book is sectioned by restaurant, and the staff meal recipes are prefaced by a short but thoughtful description of the restaurant, the chefs, and their approach to cooking a meal large enough to satisfy their hardworking staff. The recipes themselves are so unique and I love how creative the chefs are in transforming uncommon ingredients/leftover scraps into something totally different. I was so happy to see Oleana & Craigie on Main in the book - two Boston area restaurants that my husband and I absolutely love. And now we have their recipes for family meal! A great book and a definite future reference for meal inspo.

[Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this
There are quite a few great recipes as well

[Gina Enk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The habit of a "family meal" is practiced weekly (and by some, daily) at some of the best restaurants worldwide. While most of the recipes aren't ones I'm likely to try (lots of fish cheeks, kidneys and other things that don't make the menu--these look delicious as pictured, but wouldn't likely go over well here) the narratives are enlightening and show the human side of this demanding profession.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was more interesting for it's stories than it's recipes. Mostly because I don't keep on hand the ingredients, nor do I have most of the equipment used. The authors tried to adapt it for home use, but they were still doing semi-advanced things. I wish it would have just been stories from the restaurants.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into staff meals in restaurants all around the world, plus some interesting recipes. I really enjoyed this book, as I'm working in the restaurant myself (front of the house) I know how important it is to have a meal at work, not only to fuel up, but also to have a chance to talk to each other and wind up, either before, during or after the service.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful book caught my eye @ the library. It's a fun peek into world class restaurants and their family meals for staff. Most recipes were way beyond my scope, but I did scan in a few to try. Everything looks delicious.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of extravagant recipes!

[Dugger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful look into staff meals at some great restaurants from around the world.

[Joe V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun idea for a cookbook and some really good stories and recipes in here, just didn't captivate me as much as others