BÄCO

JOSEF CENTENO & BETTY HALLOCK, CHRONICLE BOOKS, H/B, $67.99

Josef Centeno is the chef-owner of five acclaimed restaurants in downtown Los Angeles. He understands how to work flavours and combinations with a skill usually reserved for the high temples of fine dining. This pursuit of flavour is revealed in many dimensions in Bäco, a crazy quilt of recipes knitted together from immigrant experience, imagination and the melting pot of cuisine that is Los Angeles. And yet all of his clever flavour combinations sound as if they were always meant to be together, helped along with a little French technique. I LOVE THIS BOOK. There is a pow to Centeno’s cooking that comes from the way he deftly layers his citrus, herbs, vinegars and spices with contrasts of fat, acid, textures, temperatures, traditions and techniques. He takes us beyond our sense of taste to stimulate all of our senses. KELLI BRETT