Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning, 2nd Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)As an Interior Design student at OSU this was an invaluable resource to have. No student or designer should be without it in their library.

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The "Silver Bible" -- thoroughly revised, updated and redesigned
Interior designers, architects, and other design professionals can still turn to the field's beloved "Silver Bible" for a wealth of information related to the design and planning of residential and commercial interiors. But now, Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning, Second Edition goes even further to truly make the classic interior design reference the standard in its field.
From standard furniture dimensions to architectural woodwork details, you'll find a vast array of time-saving data and details. Editors Joseph DeChiara, Julius Panero, and Martin Zelnik have brought together contributions from well-known architectural and interior design firms to give you details derived from actual designs and working drawings, showing various solutions for typical design problems encountered in interior architecture.
You get a wide range of typical layouts and residential spaces, offices, conference rooms, and reception areas, in addition to details of bars, restaurants, and public toilets. This exciting new edition includes new international examples and metrification – and provides you with full coverage of healthcare spaces, educational spaces; home offices; videoconferencing spaces; green design; project forms and schedules.Two outstanding sections cover historic styles and woodworking.

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Michelin THE RED GUIDE Espana-Portugal 2000 (THE RED GUIDE) Review

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(More customer reviews)This compilation of hotels and restaurants is very useful and easy to use because of its use of accompanying maps, intuitive symbols for ammenities, and inclusion of prices. My main criticism is that, in this age of international travel and the internet, the book should include any available e-mail addresses and websites.

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This 28th edition of the Michelin Guide Espana and Portugal offers the latest selection of hotels and restaurants. It offers travellers a wide choice of establishments at all levels of comfort and price.

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Paula Deen Celebrates: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life Review

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(More customer reviews)Just in time for the holidays, I got this book. I love Paula Deen's show and her cookbooks always have amazingly simple dishes to prepare.
The author's personal stories and remembrances are what really made this book for me. As a girl from the south, these recipes are like things your Mammaw and Mama used to cook up for the family for a special occasion.
These recipes aren't necessarily things that you would eat in your everyday meals; they're for celebrations. If you're looking for a Southerner to eat tofu and bean sprouts for Thanksgiving, you've got it all wrong and would do better with buying another book. I prefer my tofu marinated in soy sauce and stir fried with pea pods and broccoli, but I'd rather have a turkey and all the trimmins for Thanksgiving.
The recipe book, and I hesitate to call it that because it's more of an entertaining book, has wonderful meal planning recipes and ideas for celebrating with your family & friends. Although I'd have loved more entertaining ideas, maybe next time, Paula?


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Catering Management Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is required for Culinary Arts classes. This is much more affordable on Amazon.com compared to any college bookstore.

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Catering Management, Third Edition gives detailed advice on all the crucial business aspects of on- and off-premise catering. The Third Edition features special new material on non-hotel catering operations—such as small business management and running your own catering operation. It presents fresh information on menu design and pricing, complete with illustrative menu examples and tips for using software tools to create enticing menus.

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The Spice Routes: Chronicles and Recipes from Around the World Review

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(More customer reviews)I already owned the book and wanted it for a gift - I'm interested in the history of the area as well as the food, and it met expectations. The recipes I've tried, using the processes they recommend, are wonderful. If you like exotic foods, and want to know how they came about, you'll love this book. There's a paperback, but I think it's a sequel, not the same book.

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Combining travelogue and recipes, this book tells the story of how Chris and Carolyn Caldicott followed the trails of the early spice merchants on their search for authentic spice recipes. As they travel through the Eastern Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, Africa and the Americas, they explain how indigenous spices were traded and how foreign spices arrived, and they explore the effect the spices have had on the local cuisines, supplying the recipes for the dishes they discovered along the way. Among their adventures are an encounter with an unscrupulous saffron-dealer in the souk in Aswan, an elephant hike through the jungles of south west Nepal, enrolment at the Thai Cooking School at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, and a trek across the Andes to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure Review

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(More customer reviews)Like the literary equivalent of reading a birder's checklist of sightings.
I was hoping to get a "you are there" experience of exotic places and people. Instead, I got a few anecdotes, that mostly revealed the curmudeonliness of the authors, and a list of meal ingredients.
It is written in 3rd-person, present-tense with inane dialogue quotes that string together the tally of meals. The following is one example (from page 69).
"Our best meals come at small restaurants with more faithful specializations. One is a mom-and-daughter Vietnamese operation in a strip mall around the corner from out hotel. While the middle-aged daughter handles the cooking in the kitchen, the elderly mother serves the patrons, seating us at one of the two simple tables on the sidewalk, actually more atmospheric than the brightly lit, larger tables inside. For starters, she brings us a platter of delightful fried crab spring rolls, which we wrap in lettuce leaves with pickled ginger and then dip in fish sauce. Bill moves on to a spicy fish preparation, with cubes of the day's catch stir-fried with vegetables in a piquant sauce that gets his nose running again. Cheryl opts for a vermicelli salad with grilled bits of pork and pork balls, served with lettuce leaves, carrot strips, ginger, and peanuts to bundle together for eating.
L'Astrolabe, on the Baie des Citrons, reminds us of numerous seaside bistros on the French Mediterranean, in its menu as well as the alfresco setting. For our lunch, Cheryl chooses the plat du jour, a seafood carpaccio combination. Paper-thin slices of giant clams, salmon, and tuna arrive with seasoning portions of astringent greeen olive oil, coarse sea salt, black pepper, and lime, all arrayed around a mound of garlicky slivered crudite salad. As terrific as this is, she really swoon over the accompanying vegetable side dish. 'It's the sweetest pumpkin I've ever tasted, baked and then pureed with cream and some curry powder.' Bill picks the house meat specialty, a steak tartare with frites called Le Gastrolabe. Chefs prepare it in the kitchen rather that at the table, blending local beef luciously and richly with capers, tomatoes, onions, and gherkins, and flavoring the mixture with subdued but sound hints of parsley, chives, basil, egg yolk, brandy, olive oil, garlic, and Tabasco. The food punches out our congestion for hours."


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China Modern (Mitchell Beazley Interiors S.) Review

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(More customer reviews)written by obviously one of the region's foremost authorities on Chinese design and interiors having been in Hongkong with Elle Decor and other excellent publications for many years, Sharon Leece knows her way around the traditional feng shui and new leanings of the China elite as well as the western expat with a home and heart in Asia. Creative and informative text and fabulous photos take the reader on a trip into another world of China Decor uptil now unseen but sure to be come a trend worldwide. Check out her other China interior books for even more wonderful shots of lush and lavish spaces.

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Twenty-first century China is a country on the move, as the nation's designers draw on classical Chinese accents and blend these with modern, dynamic ideas. This book is divided into types of Chinese style, from renovations of the Qing dynasty siheyuan (court houses) and 1930s longtangs (lane houses) of Shanghai to modernist villas by the Great Wall of China and Bauhaus-inspired stone buildings. Thirty-six of the most innovative homes and interiors in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are explored, with interior designs that are sensational, cutting-edge, and contemporary.

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Relais & Chateaux 1999 (Hachette) Review

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(More customer reviews)Relais & Chateaux is an association of outstanding restaurants and small hotels around the world. Membership is by invitation only. This book is a compilation of the hotels and restaurants that are members. Some hotels have restaurants that are included, but not the hotel itself. All hotels included have fine restaurants, though not always 3 star.
I have been in the travel business for 31 years. My travel agency orders copies of this book as a reference tool each year, as do several of our customers, who would not think of planning a vacation to any part of the world without using its hotels and restaurants. The hotels are divided into several categories, all of which are not very expensive or extremely deluxe. They all do care about providng the customer the level of service that he expects in their facilities. This book, along with The Small Luxury Hotel group, and the Star Guide are our primary references to the best of the world in travel.

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Michelin THE RED GUIDE Benelux 2000 (THE RED GUIDE) Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I moved to Belgium from the US, I had heard that "you can consistently eat better in Brussels than you can in Paris." They were right. Belgium, and especially Brussels, has incredible food and this guidebook only adds pleasure to the search for the perfect waterzoi!

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This edition of the Michelin Guide Benelux offers the latest selection of hotels and restaurants. It offers travellers a wide choice of establishments at all levels of comfort and price.

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French Leave 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)SOME OF THESE REVIEWS ARE PERFECT. HOWEVER DUE TO ITS DATE, THE REVIEWS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON SOLELY. TRAVEL ITINERARIES OF FRANCE ARE SUPERB. GIVES YOU THE IN AND OUTS OF FRENCH STARRED AND NON STARRED RESTAURANTS. WAS THE FIRST TO BAD MOUTH THE BAMIERE IN LES BEAUX .. 5 YEARS BEFORE MICHELIN DOWN GRADES. GREAT DICTIONARY FRENCH/ENGLISH FOR FOOD HE IS BRITISH AND EASILY UNDERSTOOD SPECIALIZES IN OUT OF THE WAY FRANCE
IF YOU LOVE FRANCE YOULL LOVE THIS BOOK

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Beverage Biz Is Show Biz Review

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(More customer reviews)I was looking for a book about how to promote a restaurant/bar operation, and how the "entertainment" factor is worked into a place's image. This book is fun to read because of the great places it reviews. No small operations here, but it is easy to use parts of these operations in your own place. Overall, a very useful book.

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Forty-seven interview chapters with successful restaurateurs, reporting on what they are doing to increase their profits from beverage sales. New twists on martinis, tequila, rum and other spirits as well as extensive coverage of wine. The fast-growing importance of expanding the alcohol-free drink category is also covered. Every chapter has one or more nuggets of pure gold. You are sure to find some that you can immediately put to use to improve your restaurant's bottom line.AUTHOR'S COMMENTS: For over a year I have traveled the country talking to restaurateurs, bartenders, sommeliers and, yes, customers. What I heardis in this book's pages. Different restaurateurs faced different challenges and answered those challenges in different ways. You're not in a cookie-cutter business. What works for one operator may not work for another. This book was not written to give you an infallible path to success. It was written to show you what has worked for others. You take what you believe has pertinence to your operation and then give it your unique touch. I would enjoy having a dialogue with you. Tell me what you are doing that is innovative and successful. I'm looking for good ideas for the newsletter I'll be introducing this April, 2000 - Dave Steadman's Restaurant Scene. My email address is DSteadmanF@aol.com

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The Village Pub (Country) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, I suppose that's how it was many hundreds of years ago much as it is today. Visit the small, obscure English pub from days of yore! Gorgeous attention to detail, beautiful, clear color photographs and descriptions of each pub's unique qualities. Just like the book entitled "A Panorama of England", this book is a fantastic coffee table book. What I liked best about the book is how the author's provide information about the history of the local breweries that supply the individual pubs and what the specialty beers and ales of the area are. I never realized there were so many different kinds! There are also descriptions of the various pub games offered at the different establishments, games which have been played for hundreds of years and most of the pubs still have the authentic furniture and interior decor. There is a wonderful description of the fireplaces that warm these cheery haunts and you get the feeling that the people there must have wonderful stories to tell. It would be an ideal book to take on vacation if you go to England because each photo also has the name and county as a caption and this would make it easy to find and you can use it as a companion to the "Panorama of England" book and truly step back in time to taste great ales and view some breathtaking scenery. It's amazing how the history of the village pubs and ale houses stretches back so many hundreds of years and the famous people who have been reputed to have visited many of them. This information adds a truly mystical dreamy quality and makes this a wonderful book to explore. I actually have read the descriptions of all the pubs as I would a novel and loved the enriching experience. Written in a clear style with adequate interesting information alongside excellent photographs.... well, need I say more! So pour that pint of English bitter, put your foot up on the stool and take in the wonderful, cheery experience!

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A photographic celebration of traditional pubs in villages throughout England and its borders. Includes ancient and historical pubs, pubs with literary or artistic connections, pubs with fine settings and pubs that brew their own beer.

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The Art of Excellence: Chefs, Cuisine, Cities, & Cognacs Review

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(More customer reviews)Visual guide the the best chef and restaurants, which includes CD with signature recipes.

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Accounting and Financial Management: Developments in the International Hospitality Industry Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best book I have read for Financial Management in the Hospitality industry. I recommend it fully and without reservations

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The Wagamama Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)While Wagamama restaraunts are mostly known to those who have been to London, this cookbook is made for an American audience. They include cup and spoon measures, say shrimp instead of prawns, cillantro not corriander, snow peas not mange tout. However, the DVD that comes with it is of minimal use if you have any experience with stir-fry and they use British words. A great book for anyone wanting some slightly westernized Asian dishes, as well as those anglophiles longing for London. (Note: Not all the menu dishes are included. My favorite, chicken katsu curry is not in the book).

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True to the positive eating, positive living ethos of wagamama's idiosyncratic chain of noodle restaurants, this official collection of recipes shares the secret of the hallmark culinary minimalism that has won it instant cult status worldwide.There are over 65 wagamama branches worldwide and the first U.S. branch opens in Boston in April.The distinctive wagamama flavor originates from the traditional ramen (noodle) stalls of Japan, which guarantee nourishment with ingredients that cleanse and nurture the mind and body. Suitable for meat-eaters, seafood lovers and vegetarians alike, the noodle and rice recipes have been specially created by the people behind Wagamama's unique house style and concentrate on cooking fresh, quality ingredients in a way that retains maximum flavor and nutrition. With a helpful DVD showing how to create dishes as well as tips and techniques, cooking wagamama style has never been so easy.

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The New American Chef: Cooking with the Best of Flavors and Techniques from Around the World Review

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(More customer reviews)Unlike the first reviewer of this book, I had no preconceived notions of what The New American Chef "should" or "shouldn't" be. When I recently picked it up, what I found was a surprisingly fresh and insightful look at the subject of international flavors and techniques and how they are influencing today's (and tomorrow's) idea of American cuisine. This is a tribute to the authors' increasingly well-known reputation for going places no other food writers have gone before (and readers of Culinary Artistry won't have to ask what I mean by that!). By their own admission (on p. xiv), the authors' goal "was not to take a comprehensive, encyclopedic approach to these 10 cuisines...Rather, to share some of the underlying tenets each one has to offer." I've never read another cookbook that took on this challenge, and certainly none has so insightfully.
In The New American Chef, the authors manage to "deconstruct" the underlying essence of each of the 10 cuisines they profile. In other words, what makes Japanese cuisine unique? To the authors, it is the cuisine's extraordinary emphasis on seasonality. What makes Italian cuisine unique? The Italian sensibility when selecting ingredients. And so on through Spanish, French, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese and Moroccan cuisines. Then each chapter underscores that central lesson by providing insights and guidelines and recipes from some of the world's best-respected experts on each of those cuisines (e.g. Mario Batali and Lynne Rossetto Kasper on Italian; Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse, and Hubert Keller on French, etc.). The chapters are not cookie-cutter in structure, obviously, because each chapter focuses on a different aspect of cuisine. So there may not be an emphasis in "the order of a menu" in every single chapter, but that is clearly because it is not an important aspect of certain cuisines (for example, Asian cuisines which are served family-style, rather than as a series of courses). Instead, they take about 30 or 40 pages per cuisine to focus in on what makes it unique, and what lessons the reader can take away from that cuisine to apply in their own kitchens, no matter what they're cooking. And I've already taken away useful lessons on working with spices (the focus of the chapter on India) and with chilies (the focus of the chapter on Mexico).
This book is not perfect. The reproduction of the black & white photos in my copy of the book appeared uneven. And some fascinating topics are touched on so briefly that I would have hoped to read much more about them. But I agree with Union Square Cafe chef Michael Romano's comment on the book's back cover that this is truly a "groundbreaking" book for its unique emphasis on distilling the insights and lessons of an incredible array of leading experts. And I'm consoling my frustrated desire to read more about certain subjects with the incredible suggestions for further reading on each of the 10 cuisines provided at the end of every chapter, which in itself may be worth the price of the book.
I highly recommend this book for the intelligent reader who wants to gain either a broad-brush overview of the principles underlying these 10 particular cuisines, or leading experts' astute insights into how to make your own cooking even more flavorful and technically expert through applying these ideas in your own (professional or home) kitchen.

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Hamburger Heaven Review

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(More customer reviews)My son was delighted while we read this book. Tickled by fantastic illustrations and disgusting delicacies, he enjoyed the book from front to back. I used it as an opportunity to teach him about entrepreneurship, a not-so-obvious theme underlying the story.
While others' reviews have pointed out that the moral is about helping others, I believe it goes deeper than that. It is about Pinky Pig taking charge, and doing what is required to not only save her job, but to help grow the business she works for.
She performs market research (asking others what they'd like), planning and advertising (distributing the new menus in places her customers were most likely to frequent), and even delivering the desired product to the masses, which nets the business (and her personally) financial success, and loyal customers galore.
A great book with a moral? Yes. And a fantastic one about self-reliance at that.

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