A “radically honest cookbook” by award-winning chef Greg Baxtrom, owner of New York’s Five Acres. Insightful anecdotes and chef’s notes challenge the notion that fancy techniques and high end equipment matter. You can get nearly the same effect with infinitely less work. Many of the tropes of fine dining cookbook recipes—the hyperspecificity, the rigidity of the recipes—they don’t matter either. At home, what matters is deliciousness.

Filled with sidebars containing helpful tips and lessons, like how to recover from cooking mistakes, and photographs and infographics to assist you every step of the way. Recipes flow from easy to complex, with beginner recipes like Simple Ribeye with Roasted Root Vegetables and Very Easy Bread to the more complicated Bouillabaisse and Indoor S’mores.

This approachable guide covers all meals, including classic & fun desserts, drinks and snacks, plus dozens of homemade condiments, spice mixes, salads and sides to mix and match with mains.

Details
Hardcover / 224 pages
Published 26 May 2026