Culina Hortus: Cuisine Vegetale Gastronomique et Creative

This arresting and ambitious vegetarian cookbook comes from a restaurant of the same name in Lyon, France. The young chef, Adrien Zedda, displays skill with both flavor and presentation, and his seasonally arranged creations look gorgeous on their plates.

Among the intriguing ideas: radishes with avocado and lime; turnips with nori and onions; chard with broccoli and sumac; butternut squash with chevre and pine nuts. There are plenty of interesting desserts as well, including cherries with brie and vanilla, tomatoes with mascarpone and peppermint, and mandarin orange segments with wasabi and almonds.

The recipes are often technically ambitious and composed of multiple elements which must be prepared in advance, a common enough quality in restaurant books but one which may be disguised by the apparent simplicity of the recipe names,

Impressive.

In French. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.