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Bon Appetit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking
The daughter and granddaughter of consummate Southern cooks, Virginia Willis is also a classically trained French chef. These divergent influences come together splendidly in Bon Appétit, Y'all, a modern Southern chef's passionate and utterly appealing homage to her culinary roots. Espousing a simple-is-best philosophy, Virginia uses the finest ingredients, concentrates on sound French technique, and lets the food shine in a style she calls "refined Southern cuisine." More than 200 approachable and consistently delicious recipes are arranged by chapter into starters and nibbles; salads and slaws; eggs and dairy; meat, fowl, and fish main dishes; sides; biscuits and breads; soups and stews; desserts; and sauces and preserves. Collected here are stylishly updated Southern and French classics (New SouthernChicken and Dumplings, Boeuf Bourgignonne), rib-sticking, old-timey favorites (Meme's Fried Okra, Angel Biscuits), and perfectly executed comfort food (Mama's Apple Pie, Fried Catfish Fingers with Country Rémoulade). Nearly 100 photographs bring to life both Virginia's food and the bounty of her native Georgia. You'll also find a wealth of tips and techniques from a skilled and innovative teacher, and the stories of a Southern girl steeped to her core in the food, kitchen lore, and unconditional hospitality of her culinary forebears on both sides of the Atlantic. Bon Appétit, Y'all is Virginia's way of saying, "Welcome to my Southern kitchen. Pull up a chair." Once you have tasted her food, you'll want to stay a good long while.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2008
About the author
Virginia Willis
27 books16 followersVirginia Willis is a James Beard award-winning cookbook author, television personality, content creator, motivational speaker, and social media influencer.
Georgia born French-trained chef Virginia Willis has foraged for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvested capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily, and beguiled celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Bill Clinton, Morgan Freeman, and Julie Chrisley with her cooking.
She is a chef instructor for the streaming service Food Network Kitchen as well as a James Beard award-winning cookbook author. Her books include Secrets of the Southern Table, Lighten Up, Y’all, Bon Appétit, Y’all, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all, Okra, and Grits.
Beginning in 2019 Virginia lost 65 pounds and has kept if off for over two years. In 2022, her health journey has been documented in Eating Well magazine, as a cover story for Woman’s World, and in the August issue of All Recipes magazine.
Virginia has embraced her new outlook on life and has become a cheerleader for those wanting to make their own life changes, “If a French-trained Southern chef can do it, you can, too!”
She is the former TV kitchen director for Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Nathalie Dupree; has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants; and traveled the world producing food stories – from making cheese in California to escargot farming in France. She has appeared on Food Network's Chopped, CBS This Morning, Fox Family and Friends, Martha Stewart Living, and as a judge on Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Virginia has also been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, Eater, and Food52 and has contributed to Eating Well, Garden & Gun, and Bon Appétit, and more. The Chicago Tribune praised her as one of "Seven Food Writers You Need to Know." Her legion of fans loves her down-to-earth attitude and approachable spirit. Learn more about Virginia and follow her good and good for you recipes and traveling exploits at www.virginiawillis.com.
Georgia born French-trained chef Virginia Willis has foraged for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvested capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily, and beguiled celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Bill Clinton, Morgan Freeman, and Julie Chrisley with her cooking.
She is a chef instructor for the streaming service Food Network Kitchen as well as a James Beard award-winning cookbook author. Her books include Secrets of the Southern Table, Lighten Up, Y’all, Bon Appétit, Y’all, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all, Okra, and Grits.
Beginning in 2019 Virginia lost 65 pounds and has kept if off for over two years. In 2022, her health journey has been documented in Eating Well magazine, as a cover story for Woman’s World, and in the August issue of All Recipes magazine.
Virginia has embraced her new outlook on life and has become a cheerleader for those wanting to make their own life changes, “If a French-trained Southern chef can do it, you can, too!”
She is the former TV kitchen director for Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Nathalie Dupree; has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants; and traveled the world producing food stories – from making cheese in California to escargot farming in France. She has appeared on Food Network's Chopped, CBS This Morning, Fox Family and Friends, Martha Stewart Living, and as a judge on Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Virginia has also been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, Eater, and Food52 and has contributed to Eating Well, Garden & Gun, and Bon Appétit, and more. The Chicago Tribune praised her as one of "Seven Food Writers You Need to Know." Her legion of fans loves her down-to-earth attitude and approachable spirit. Learn more about Virginia and follow her good and good for you recipes and traveling exploits at www.virginiawillis.com.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 23, 2019
This is a very good cookbook. I wrote a few great recipes to add to my collection. Thanks again
August 28, 2020
OMG, I'M HOME AGAIN!
My grandmother would never share her recipes, with anyone. She felt her daughters didn't have the "calling" and her two granddaughters just weren't around enough to apprentice, although she would use our labor, when available. I see some of these recipes, toasting pecans and how to shred coconut (but not with her rotary grater), the shrimp simply dressed with olive oil, salt and lemon, but simmered in the celery/carrot/onion court bouillon exactly as I've done for 50 years, and I am transported hard and fast back into kitchens in Memphis, Tennessee and the Louisiana Coast, replete with the sounds, colors and smells. The teleportation doesn't end there, only begins, and I'm six years old again and feeling the love infused in every moment Grammy was around. Always cooking, toasting biscuits, making cheese straws, lemon meringue pies, fried chicken, whatever company food she could, as somebody always came home for a meal, or she'd drag in strangers who needed to be fed. She believed she lived to cook and these foods have that "somep'n somep'n" she lavished into our lives. She wouldn't share her recipes, period! We weren't up to snuff for some reason or another. We actually weren't around enough and my grandmother operated under the tenet of "all or nuthin'" in her work ethic. And here we are. I had the hardback of this book for years, a gift lightly scanned, then shelved, but somethin' came up and I bought the Kindle version bcs it's easier to read and find things and Chef was recommended as "the real deal." Well, ladies and gentlemen, she is and so is her food. Don't sit back and enjoy this lady and her magic, get in there and get busy. "Your hands aren't moving, missy, you cain't cook if your hands ain't dancin'!" Yes, ma'am. Your God-appointed angel has shown up for duty and I'm ready to dance to her wonderful awesome music. Thank you, Lord, at last my kitchens goddess has come! Buy this book and pray you deserve the miracle now available in front of you. I hope I do.
My grandmother would never share her recipes, with anyone. She felt her daughters didn't have the "calling" and her two granddaughters just weren't around enough to apprentice, although she would use our labor, when available. I see some of these recipes, toasting pecans and how to shred coconut (but not with her rotary grater), the shrimp simply dressed with olive oil, salt and lemon, but simmered in the celery/carrot/onion court bouillon exactly as I've done for 50 years, and I am transported hard and fast back into kitchens in Memphis, Tennessee and the Louisiana Coast, replete with the sounds, colors and smells. The teleportation doesn't end there, only begins, and I'm six years old again and feeling the love infused in every moment Grammy was around. Always cooking, toasting biscuits, making cheese straws, lemon meringue pies, fried chicken, whatever company food she could, as somebody always came home for a meal, or she'd drag in strangers who needed to be fed. She believed she lived to cook and these foods have that "somep'n somep'n" she lavished into our lives. She wouldn't share her recipes, period! We weren't up to snuff for some reason or another. We actually weren't around enough and my grandmother operated under the tenet of "all or nuthin'" in her work ethic. And here we are. I had the hardback of this book for years, a gift lightly scanned, then shelved, but somethin' came up and I bought the Kindle version bcs it's easier to read and find things and Chef was recommended as "the real deal." Well, ladies and gentlemen, she is and so is her food. Don't sit back and enjoy this lady and her magic, get in there and get busy. "Your hands aren't moving, missy, you cain't cook if your hands ain't dancin'!" Yes, ma'am. Your God-appointed angel has shown up for duty and I'm ready to dance to her wonderful awesome music. Thank you, Lord, at last my kitchens goddess has come! Buy this book and pray you deserve the miracle now available in front of you. I hope I do.
October 9, 2020
The author of this wonderful book, Virginia Willis, has put together the food of her native Georgia and her classical French techniques to create this really pretty book. I love it. I love the photographs. I love the writing in it. It's really, really nice.
Martha Stewart
Virginia Willis is as warm and gracious a belle as you could ever hope to meet. These two qualities shine through brilliantly in her approach to food and cooking. In her writing and recipes, she reminds us again of the powerful and meaningful bond that good, honest food, carefully prepared and shared with those we love, can render. We are fortunate to be shown a place at her table.
Scott Peacock [The Gift of Southern Cooking]
Southern hospitality with French flair: it's a winning combination. Virginia Willis bases this enticing book on her family's traditional Southern cooking, weaving in the classic French techniques she learned herself in France. Her recipes are precise and easy to follow, and her book distills the essence of her warm-hearted, welcoming style. 'Bon appétit, y'all' says it all!
Anne Willan [La Varenne Pratique]
"When it comes to food, Virginia can perform miracles. She is a master of Southern cooking and she's an incredibly talented writer. This book has one sensational recipe after another, fascinating stories, and great science tips. Don't wait for the Super Bowl to make her award-winning Coca-Cola– Glazed Wings, wonderfully tender and sweet-hot. Talk about good!
Shirley O. Corriher [BakeWise and CookWise]
Virginia Willis is a proud daughter of the South who, by way of butter beans, okra, biscuits, and dumplings, honors her kith, her kin, her place.
John T. Edge
Martha Stewart
Virginia Willis is as warm and gracious a belle as you could ever hope to meet. These two qualities shine through brilliantly in her approach to food and cooking. In her writing and recipes, she reminds us again of the powerful and meaningful bond that good, honest food, carefully prepared and shared with those we love, can render. We are fortunate to be shown a place at her table.
Scott Peacock [The Gift of Southern Cooking]
Southern hospitality with French flair: it's a winning combination. Virginia Willis bases this enticing book on her family's traditional Southern cooking, weaving in the classic French techniques she learned herself in France. Her recipes are precise and easy to follow, and her book distills the essence of her warm-hearted, welcoming style. 'Bon appétit, y'all' says it all!
Anne Willan [La Varenne Pratique]
"When it comes to food, Virginia can perform miracles. She is a master of Southern cooking and she's an incredibly talented writer. This book has one sensational recipe after another, fascinating stories, and great science tips. Don't wait for the Super Bowl to make her award-winning Coca-Cola– Glazed Wings, wonderfully tender and sweet-hot. Talk about good!
Shirley O. Corriher [BakeWise and CookWise]
Virginia Willis is a proud daughter of the South who, by way of butter beans, okra, biscuits, and dumplings, honors her kith, her kin, her place.
John T. Edge
May 4, 2017
Not bad at all, just nothing really new or different for me.
September 25, 2020
Not my cup of tea
April 30, 2021
Easy to follow recipes. Ingredients easy to find. Food is delicious. We have used the cookbook so many times it has food stains all through it.
February 2, 2014
Must have a copy of Virginia Willis's Bon Appetit, Y'All to add to your collection of either cookbooks, or books about the South, or books written by a Southerner.
This book, and its recipes, are so extraordinary until I find myself, repeatedly, breaking the cardinal rule of never serving something before you've tried it first. I have not been disappointed, nor have those for whom I have prepared one of Willis's dishes. Several have been added to my own repertoire of nightly fare, and when I have been asked to share the recipe(s), I've wanted to hesitate because it means 1)someone else has it (the recipe) now, and 2) I feel like I am keeping Willis from a sale.
I have especially enjoyed her stories of the cooks in her family and of the recipes from each of them, as well as Willis sharing her experiences of learning techniques from the French cooking school(s). I chuckle every time I prepare her $25,000 Rice Pilaf, having read her explanation for its name.
Money well-spent on a cookbook. Beautiful photos and accounts of life in the South, and of Southern women and their families and the gathering around the table. Makes for a lovely gift for newlyweds as the recipes are easy to follow, with ingredients not difficult to find.
This book, and its recipes, are so extraordinary until I find myself, repeatedly, breaking the cardinal rule of never serving something before you've tried it first. I have not been disappointed, nor have those for whom I have prepared one of Willis's dishes. Several have been added to my own repertoire of nightly fare, and when I have been asked to share the recipe(s), I've wanted to hesitate because it means 1)someone else has it (the recipe) now, and 2) I feel like I am keeping Willis from a sale.
I have especially enjoyed her stories of the cooks in her family and of the recipes from each of them, as well as Willis sharing her experiences of learning techniques from the French cooking school(s). I chuckle every time I prepare her $25,000 Rice Pilaf, having read her explanation for its name.
Money well-spent on a cookbook. Beautiful photos and accounts of life in the South, and of Southern women and their families and the gathering around the table. Makes for a lovely gift for newlyweds as the recipes are easy to follow, with ingredients not difficult to find.
July 29, 2011
What I like about this is not so much the cookbook aspects of the book--which are lovely--it is a coffee table style book, with pages that turn easily (and would stand up to egg being dripped on them without falling completely apart) and beautiful photographs--and plenty of them. The cooking of the American South is not really to my liking--there are some recipes that I found alluring--red beans and rice, and corn spoonbread to name a couple--but what I liked by far the most was that every recipe had a story attached to the beginning of it--some are long and some are short, but they are very genuine sounding (who knows, I know, but still, hoemy without being camp is the tone they set for the book--and the food). It makes the food more personal and gives you the true sense that this is comfort food at it's best, and while it may not be in the superstar category in terms of health, it is steeped in tradition.
November 29, 2011
This cookbook has many recipes I will try out and am sure to enjoy. I first saw Virginia Willis with what's her name...the white haired cook with the adorable sons...can't remember her name. But the recipes she created during the show prompted me to get the cookbook. Love the stories that accompany the recipes and as always, I prefer recipes with pictures. This is a grand book of recipes from a French trained chef but with down home Y'ALL attitude and taste.
January 19, 2012
Not what I expected. Honestly, there's more French food than Southern, and the author has a somewhat condescending tone when talking about traditional southern foods that don't fit what she learned in culinary school.
March 10, 2014
I love southern cooking and the recipes I have tried from this book are fabulous. A family favourite is the Thyme Toasted Pecans - they have become a staple whenever I entertain, or we are looking for something savoury to snack on, simple to make and delicious!
January 8, 2009
Updated Southern recipes with a French kick by third generation Georgia cook. Has me wishin for summer already
August 17, 2009
My two favorite cuisines-- French and Southern-- magically combined in one fantastic book. Perfection!
June 1, 2012
Incredible book with a tried and true recipe for Red Velvet Cake.
July 26, 2012
Classic Southern and French savory main dishes I've always wanted to make and never-thought-of traditional recipes worth giving a try.
May 31, 2014
I received this cook book as a gift and I'm absolutely in love with it. The pork chops and pan gravy are amazing. Virginia Willis doesn't disappoint with her cook books.
March 7, 2011
I finally bought Virginia's cookbook yesterday & can't wait to start marking recipes this week!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews