KITCHEN CREATIVITY:
Unlocking Culinary Genius–With Wisdom, Inspiration, and Ideas
from the World’s Most Creative Chefs
by Karen Page
Photography by Andrew Dornenburg
(Hachette Book Group / Little, Brown; October 31, 2017)
Named 2018 Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner in the “Food Writing” category,
and representative of the U.S. at “The Best in the World” Awards in Yantai, China, on May 26, 2018
Named #2 in the category of “Memoirs and Books About Food” for 2017 by EatYourBooks.com,
based on an analysis of 317 “Best Cookbooks” lists
Named one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2017” by The Washington Post
Named one of “7 Great Food & Wine Books for Holiday Gifts” by Forbes
Named one of “Our Favorite Cookbooks of 2017” by Shelf Awareness
Named one of The Fall and Winter’s Best Cookbooks for Chefs by Plate magazine
Named one of the “Top Cookbooks of 2017” by Eat Your Books
Named to Book Larder in Seattle’s “2017 Gift Guide”
Named one of Powell’s Books “Staff Picks” by its cookbook buyer Tracey T.
Named to the “2017 Cookbook Gift Guide” by A Beautiful Plate
Named one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2017” by Eat the Love
Named one of “7 Books That Would Make Great Gifts” by Will It Waffle?
Named one of five “Cookbooks for the Food Lover in Your Life” by the Buffalo News
Named #1 on ChefsRoll.com‘s Holiday Gift Guide
Named one of Chef Rick Bayless’s 2017 “Holiday Book Recommendations”
KITCHEN CREATIVITY is featured at the top of the stack of Chef Rick Bayless’s 2017 holiday book recommendations on Facebook
“Together with her husband, photographer Andrew Dornenburg, [Karen Page has] written some of the most respected tomes on modern cooking today. Karen and Andrew recently released their 11th book — called KITCHEN CREATIVITY. In it, they offer culinary education from the world’s greatest chefs, without relying on a single recipe….[KITCHEN CREATIVITY] talks about learning to use imagination, insight, and intuition — and I really think this is the hallmark of this period of culinary development we’re in.”
–Evan Kleiman, host, “Good Food” on KCRW Radio (Los Angeles’ NPR member station)
From KITCHEN CREATIVITY‘s book jacket:
THE SECRET TO CULINARY GENIUS
Unlock your creative potential with the world’s most imaginative chefs.
In this groundbreaking exploration of culinary genius, the authors of The Flavor Bible reveal the surprising strategies great chefs use to do what they do best. Beyond a cookbook, KITCHEN CREATIVITY is a paradigm-shifting guide to inventive cooking (without recipes!) that will inspire you to think, improvise, and cook like the world’s best chefs.Great cooking is as much about intuition and imagination as it is about flavor and technique. KITCHEN CREATIVITY distills brilliant insights into these creative processes from more than 100 top restaurant kitchens, including the Bazaar, Blue Hill, Daniel, Dirt Candy, Eleven Madison Park and the NoMad, Gramercy Tavern, the Inn at Little Washington, Le Bernardin, Oleana, Rustic Canyon, Saison, Single Thread, and Topolobampo.
Based on four years of extensive research and dozens of in-depth interviews, KITCHEN CREATIVITY illuminates the method (and occasional madness) of culinary invention. Part I reveals how to learn foundational skills, including how to appreciate, taste, and season classic dishes (Stage 1: Mastery), before reinventing the classics from a new perspective (Stage 2: Alchemy). Einstein’s secret of genius-combinatory play-pushes chefs to develop unique creations and heighten their outer and inner senses (Stage 3: Creativity). Part II’s A-to-Z entries are an invaluable culinary idea generator, with exercises to prompt new imaginings.
The ultimate reference for culinary brainstorming, KITCHEN CREATIVITY will spur your creativity to new heights, both in the kitchen and beyond.
Praise for KITCHEN CREATIVITY:
“Utter genius…If Leonardo da Vinci wrote a book on culinary creativity in 2017, this would be it.”
—Michael Gelb, New York Times bestselling author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci and The Art of Connection
“An instant classic, the rare book that helps the creator learn to think, not just do.”
—Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author of Linchpin
“Who was that visionary who first intuited that the tasteless red berry on the bush, if processed just right, could burst into coffee? Who made that first cake? Chefs have always been an intuitive lot. The best are visionary sensualists for whom food is high lovemaking, unleashing ever new and ancient, multisensory delights. KITCHEN CREATIVITY is a walk on the wild side with today’s most visionary chefs.”
—Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, founder and director, American Visionary Art Museum
“Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg have dedicated their storied careers as gastronomic scribes—diligently researching and documenting the culture, history, science, and techniques of cooking. Not surprisingly, each one of their acclaimed books has become a must-read for professional chefs and home cooks alike. Their latest, KITCHEN CREATIVITY, proudly joins the family—generously ladling practical advice towards acing the art of culinary innovation, imbuing the reader with newfound confidence, skill, and inspiration. No doubt it will become essential in my own collection!”
—Danny Meyer, CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group and author of the New York Times bestseller Setting the Table
“The hardest question I’ve ever been asked is: ‘How do you teach someone to be creative?’ Now I have a resource I can wholeheartedly recommend!”
—Michel Nischan, founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, and winner of the 2015 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award
“This splendid book is the perfect roadmap for a young chef to attain culinary stardom. First, follow the great classic cooks by imitating them. Second, massage that knowledge to fit your palate and esthetic sense. Third and finally, become yourself.”
—Jacques Pepin, Emmy Award-winning television host, recipient of France’s Legion d’Honneur, and author of A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen With Shorey
“An incredible reference for home cooks, young chefs, and seasoned pros alike. KITCHEN CREATIVITY should be in everyone’s library.”
—Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin in New York City, and author of the New York Times bestseller 32 Yolks
“KITCHEN CREATIVITY is a book we would love to have written. A delectable mix of sensuality, intellect, insight and surprise that reveals not only the secrets of creative chefs, but of creativity itself.”
—MacArthur Fellow Robert Root-Bernstein and Michele Root-Bernstein, authors, Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People
“Just as The Flavor Bible and Culinary Artistry have been invaluable to chefs and cooks navigating the world of flavor, KITCHEN CREATIVITY promises to guide them insightfully and inspirationally through the creative process—mindful of the fact that this is something that should always be fun.”
—Marcus Samuelsson, chef-owner, Red Rooster, Ginny’s Supper Club, and Streetbird in Harlem, and author of the New York Times bestseller Yes, Chef
“KITCHEN CREATIVITY is a book we would love to have written. A delectable mix of sensuality, intellect, insight and surprise that reveals not only the secrets of creative chefs, but of creativity itself.”
—Shoshana Zuboff, Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration Emerita, Harvard Business School, and author of Master or Slave? The Fight for the Soul of Our Information Civilization
“KITCHEN CREATIVITY explains in simple terms how to master cooking and then how to go creative:“
—Amy Alkon, bestselling author and syndicated advice columnist
“Another amazing book….Proud to be part of it!”
—Jose Andres, winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award
“[The authors have] an incredible body of work….KITCHEN CREATIVITY is life-changing, life-altering, life-enhancing [and] in the culinary world we don’t see that too often….I love this book.”
—Kim Bailey, host, Food Talk AM 820
“The Best Cookbooks of 2017: KITCHEN CREATIVITY registers with me as book about cooking and not quite a cookbook — an outlier on this list. Yet it deserves a berth because author Karen Page, who co-wrote THE FLAVOR BIBLE and WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, among other books, achieves a substantial feat in condensing what motivates dozens of America’s greatest chefs, including José Andrés, Patrick O’Connell of the Inn at Little Washington and Rasika’s Vikram Sunderam. It is perhaps best consumed in chunks — at least, that’s working for me.”
—Bonnie S. Benwick, The Washington Post
“This book is so cool! Such a complex piece of work….[It’s] a massive book…[from] the world’s most creative cookbook authors.”
—Guy Bower, host, The Good Life on KNSS Radio
“Our Favorite Cookbooks of 2017: KITCHEN CREATIVITY….Recipes are a good place for anyone to start cooking, but it can be more rewarding to learn how to cook inventively to please your tastes, with the best ingredients available to you. Food writer Karen Page (The Flavor Bible) has written many acclaimed books with photography by her husband, Andrew Dornenburg. In KITCHEN CREATIVITY, she compiles the advice of successful chefs, and studies how they manage their creative lives. Sections discuss techniques, how flavors and textures work together, and how to invent new dishes. In sidebars and subsections, Page offers a five-step creative process, historical origins of flavor combinations, sources for the best ingredients, book recommendations and lists of award-winning chefs and restaurants. An encyclopedia-style section is meant to spark ideas with entries such as Altitude, Enneagrams and Summer. This book will appeal to cooks at every level, and those interested in creativity, whatever the medium….Discover: A top food writer presents the creative lives and technical advice of professional chefs in this combination creativity study and cooking manual.”
—Sara Catterall, Shelf Awareness
“#1 on 2017 Holiday Gift Guide: Inspire the chef in your life with Karen Page’s KITCHEN CREATIVITY and Ali Bouzari’s Ingredient….”
—ChefsRoll.com
“The very charming couple Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, authors of many award-winning cookbooks – including my looked-at-every-day The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, the unquestionably indispensable guide that belongs in every kitchen – has done it again with their latest book, KITCHEN CREATIVITY.…It’s a fact that I cannot put KITCHEN CREATIVITY down, and I guarantee you will feel the same way, too.”
—Fran Costigan, cookbook author and host, FranCostigan.com
“2017 Cookbook Gift Guide: One of a dozen most-loved (and coveted!) cookbooks of the year…. KITCHEN CREATIVITY: Written by the same authors behind my favorite FLAVOR BIBLE and VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE, this latest book is about learning how to become more creative in the kitchen. It draws on knowledge and ideas from chefs, teaches you how to jump-start the idea process, and shares information about historic dishes from all over the world.”
—Laura Davidson, A Beautiful Plate
“KITCHEN CREATIVITY [is] amazing….Incredible….Unbelievable….A must-have.”
—Lisa Davis, MPH, host, Healthfully Yours
“[One of five] cookbooks for the food lover in your life….Too many cooks have found their kitchen time devoid of the contemplation and creativity that can make feeding others so spiritually nutritious….The cookbooks I want to bring to your attention this holiday season can rejuvenate your kitchen….These are cookbooks to read, and take to heart, so you can grow as a cook….KITCHEN CREATIVITY by Karen Page: A doctorate-level tome on inspiring and harnessing culinary alchemy. Page draws on the collective wisdom of more than 100 leading chefs, boiling it down into a powerful elixir presented in three stages. Mastery, alchemy and then creativity is their prescription for bringing out your inner improviser.”
—Andrew Z. Galarneau, Buffalo News
“A remarkable, remarkable book.”
—Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, five-time James Beard Award winner and host, Off the Menu on WCCO Radio
“Extraordinary….[KITCHEN CREATIVITY] is an absolutely astounding book….[via Twitter:] An amazing book, even in the context of ALL your amazing books.”
—Ann and Peter Haigh, On the Menu Radio
“One of the Fall and Winter’s Best Cookbooks for Chefs….This new tome from Karen Page, author of THE FLAVOR BIBLE, aims to spark chefs’ creativity. Page gathers insights both philosophical and practical from famed chefs: Kyle Connaughton of Sonoma’s Single Thread, for example, muses on the differing role of creativity in cooking in Japan and the US, while Tal Ronnen and Scot Jones of Crossroads in L.A. discuss the nuts-and-bolts development of their vegan ‘seafood’ tower. Page points out the patterns in how great dishes come about, encouraging readers to recognize the pressures and accidents that often result in something wonderful, as well as the self-reflection and experimentation required to get there.”
—Maggie Hoffman, Plate Magazine
“KITCHEN CREATIVITY [is] an essential reference for any and every cook….A wonderful resource….Amazing–it will change your life….”
—Margaret McSweeney, host, Kitchen Chat
“7 Great Food and Wine Books for Holiday Gifts….KITCHEN CREATIVITY: Forget recipes. This whimsical book aims to unleash your kitchen creativity by talking about flavors and their combinations, techniques and ingredients. Learn what inspires top chefs to create their own dishes in interviews with chefs like Dan Barber, Daniel Boulud, Amanda Cohen and Eric Ripert.”
—Adam Morganstern, columnist, Forbes
“This book left me flabbergasted….You defy a niche….I love that it encourages people to play….This book is great….A fabulous book.”
—Sukey Pett, Sukey’s Diner on Milwaukee’s Riverwest Radio 104.1
“Staff Pick of cookbook buyer Tracey T.: Inspirational, practical, and often philosophical, KITCHEN CREATIVITY is a compendium of advice from dozens of chefs and is a cookery book unlike any other. This is not a book of recipes to keep in your kitchen; this is a book to keep in your favorite reading spot for some daily food-oriented, aspirational reading. KITCHEN CREATIVITY is truly unusual and has managed to put in book form the spirituality that many cooks feel when providing for family and friends.”
—Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon
“I am totally inspired by this book about KITCHEN CREATIVITY by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. It is like my favorite TV show Chef’s Table, except it’s in a beautiful book you can explore at your leisure. It’s filled with stimulating conversation about what drives top chefs to create, brilliant quotes, gorgeous pictures, and tips on how to create your own memorable dishes….I am loving it!”
—Lara Riggio, The Lara Touch
“Like this couple’s previous mega-seller, The Flavor Bible (also highly recommended), this book isn’t really about recipes; it’s about showing you how to think about food and flavors. It’s written by one of the smartest food-thinkers out there and based on years of research and interviews with dozens of chefs. Wonder which is more acidic, lemon or lime juice? It’s in here, along with about a million other tidbits like that.”
—Daniel Shumski, WillItWaffle.com
“Congratulations on [KITCHEN CREATIVITY] — I’m so honored to be included! This book should be on everyone’s Christmas list.”
—Chef Michael Voltaggio
“Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg are authors of a number of wonderful books….BECOMING A CHEF changed the whole conversation….KITCHEN CREATIVITY: Love it!”
—Clark Wolf, host, At the Table on KSRO Radio
Top left: Daniel Boulud (center) and his team: Aaron Bludorn of Cafe Boulud, executive chef Jean-Francois Bruel, executive pastry chef Ghaya Oliveira, Travis Swikard of Boulud Sud, and chef de cuisine Eddy Leroux; top right: Jose Andres; middle left: Ana Sortun and Chris Kurth; middle right: pastry chef Taiesha Martin; bottom left: Curtis Duffy; bottom right: Rocco DiSpirito, Tom Colicchio, Marc Vetri, Nancy Silverton, Bill Telepan, Dahlia Narvaez, Andrew Smith at WITS benefit at Riverpark
KITCHEN CREATIVITY is available at better bookstores everywhere as of October 31, 2017.
For review copies and further information, contact:
Little, Brown publicist Zea Moscone at zea.moscone@hbgusa.com or 212-364-1464.
For foreign rights inquiries, contact DornenburgPage@gmail.com.