Al Brown - Depot Eatery - Biography of a resteraunt (with recipes) - Random House

Depot Eatery is has been one of Auckland's favourite restaurants, and has been since the day it opened.  It's a bit of a landmark, even featuring in Paul Thomas' new Tito Ihaka novel Fallout, and now here is its stunning cookbook. The posh café is not overly precious or pretentious - and the book reflects perfectly Al Brown's attitude towards food: go for in season, cook it well and enjoy with friends. This book is subtitled 'The biography of a restaurant' features quite a bit about Brown writing on his philosophy at the Depot - why Depot has achieved iconic status among New Zealanders.  He wanted to recreate the feeling of being at a Kiwi bach. 

There's also a retro feel with mismatched old crockery and chairs and there's always a feeling of generosity, of sharing the fish you caught that day, of enjoying meal times with the whanau and neighbours.  Even the sugar bowl are 'Tohearoa Sugar' - appropriated from the original soup cans. 

And so this is the feel and the design aesthetic that Al wanted to recreate with Depot never forget that Al is a highly trained chef. So while the food looks simple, everything is top quality and the flavours are out of this world. His dishes favour the unusual - using cheap cuts of meat and fish but cooking them with skill and talent.

There are 'cheffy moments' like squid ink pasta, tempura oysters with wasabi and smoked Kahawai potatoe cakes.  Who knew that you use milk in pasta making ?  And there are also simple recipes that really shouldn't be in a cook book because, honestly they are no brainers.  How you perfect them on the other hand should.

With Christmas coming, I'm not blushing when I tell you that this is a handsome with a stunning book.  I'd be well happy to have it in my kitchen!