Bistro Cooking

Worth buying for the excellent Chicken Bouillabaisse alone, which is sublime. However, note that the recipies are hit or miss. For example, a rabbit stew with olives is sub par.

If you only own five cookbooks, this should be one of them. The recipes are pure pleasure -- comfort food at its finest. I have taken years of French cooking lessons and still turn to this book every time I want to make a simple meal for my husband & I to enjoy after work. If the only recipe you tried were the one for Mme. Caretet's potato gratin, it would be worth the purchase of the book. Everyone that tries them says they are the best potatoes they have ever had. But don't stop there -- the book presents you with a wealth of eating adventures.

I received this book as a present nearly 10 years ago. In my library of over 200 cookbooks, this is the absolute champion when it comes to simple, very "French bistro" dishes to prepare for family & friends. Recipes are easy to follow and use easy to find ingredients, and I have yet to flub a dish out of this book. The pie/tart shell recipes included in the basics section, in particular, are definite staples to any cooking-lover's repertoire (I have them memorized -- I've made them so many times). I frequently give this book to friends who "want to learn how to cook".

My wife and I own many cookbooks, but none has come close to giving us the pleasure we have found in so many of the recipes in Bistro Cooking. We are both rank amateurs in the kitchen, but we have been able to handle virtually every recipe we've tried in this book (I did give up after three attempts at the potato pie from L'Ami Louis). The book includes Ms. Wells' favorite recipes from France's great bistros. Mind-blowing potato gratins, delicious fish recipes, hearty stews, unbelievable roast chicken, a strange but fantastic dish of poached eggs served with a simple red wine sauce, winning desserts, it really goes on and on. Ms. Wells is a great writer, very entertaining, and the book is full of wonderful tips. Even seven years or so after we bought our copy of Bistro Cooking, it's always a special day at our home when we make something from this cookbook.