Secret Restaurant Recipes From the World's Top Kosher Restaurants Hardcover – November 14, 2014

What a wonderful cookbook. This paste year I have started making dishes that I see in the newspaper when they have great pictures with them.I have made some really delicious meals and this year when I cook the Seder meals I am using some of the recipes instead of just cooking what I have for so many years.This book is just fantastic. It has recipes that I do see in good restaurants but that I can't order as they are not kosher. The recipes are not hard to make when you read them and don't use exotic ingredients that I could not find in my grocery store. Yes it may take more time than making your old standbys, however when you try them you will find that it was worth spending a little extra time making them.I can almost smell the food when I look at the pictures that go along with the recipes. Heavenly.I don't envy others when I make dishes that I see in restaurants. I have stopped eating out mostly because I make better, tastier, meals at home.Thank you so much for writing this book as it has so much more to offer than other cookbooks that I have that are kosher cookbooks.I have to buy my son a copy as he enjoys cooking and I am sure he will use this book.

I recently got this as a gift, and I have fallen in love with the recipes. This book is amazing. It's very well described and the layout is great. It pairs entrée with the side dishes exquisitely. I use it all the time and have much success with it.

Victoria and Leah go behind the scenes to the greatest kosher restaurants and bring us back some recipes!Some of the restaurants whose recipes are featured:ETC.OrchideaLa MariasCitron and RoseBagels "n GreensShallotsMilt'sMocha BleuAbigaelsKosher Chinese ExpressAsian Fusion (no longer in business)Segal'sYussi'sEstreiaOttimoSerendipityGotham BurgerSub ExpressCarlos and Gabby'sFormat:Secret Restaurant Pantry: Leah and Victoria list some the harder to find ingredients used frequently by restaurants that makes their food so good!The book is divided into several sections like a standard cookbook: starters, soups and salads, mains, dairy and dessertsBefore each recipe there is a bit of information about the restaurant the recipe is from. It includes the address of the restaurant and who chef/owner is.The recipes:Some of the recipes are really authentic and can be made at home just like the restaurant's, while others are less authentic. A common issue is that many restaurant's make their own sauce and do not list the recipe, but just say to use bbq sauce. Some place give suggestions of which store bought sauces will give the best results, but it isn't exactly the same.Some of the recipes and restaurants that had this problem:Popcorn chicken (Abigaels)- Leah and Vicki suggest a close subChicken Finger with Cranberry Dipping Sauce- Gotham Burger- This recipe was a HUGE disappointment. The chicken fingers were a standard fried chicken recipe, nothing special. The sauce was basically BBQ sauce with a little cranberry sauce mixed in. It tasted like the BBQ sauce used and I doubt anything like the restaurant's sauce. I would've appreciated a suggestion for a sauce that more closely matches. Alternatively, Leah and Victoria could've tried a different recipe.Braised Ribs- Estreia- The chef recommends a BBQ sauce to use but the recipe makes their ownSome of the recipes I've tried:Sweet pickles- Milt's- fairly simple to make and came out really good. The best part is that they last really long in the fridge :)Chicken Finger with Cranberry Dipping Sauce- Gotham Burger- see aboveSweet potato soup with meatballs- Citron and Rose- This soup is fantastic and so so EASY. I've made it many, many times. I even tried it dairy with cheese (It's good!)Portabella mushroom soup- It was amazing to taste what simmering some portabellas can do! Umami in a bowl.Cauliflower Bisque- Mike's Bistro- It was pretty good, better with cheese though. It was definitely smooth and buttery as promised.The Belt- Sub Express- I simplified this a bit and didn't use all the components but it was tasty.The Cedarhurst Sandwich- Carlos and Gabby's- This recipe was a huge hassle to make and IMO wasn't worth the effort. It was good but not good enough to be worth all the hassle.Sesame Chicken- Kosher Chinese Express- tastes very close to the same thing. Leah and Victoria suggest using low sodium soy sauce in place of the brown sauce used by the restaurant to make things simpler. However, they also give instructions to make your own brown sauce which I really appreciated.Misc. thoughts:Most of the mains are fried. As a kinda health conscious person this bothered me, but it IS restaurant food. One restaurant they featured puts red 40 in their corn beef to make it more appealing. I found that tidbit to be truly gross and now I know which restaurant I shouldn't go to.Most of the parve dessert heavily featured whip/non dairy creamer. Again not surprising, but annoying for me. Many of the desserts also feature egg yolks (and not one or two either). I hate having to use up the whites :( so I'm skipping them (for now???).The salad section was most appealing to me, but I don't have patience (usually) to roast some veggies and then dice some raw ones to make a salad. I also liked the dairy section.There are a few weird ingredients you'll have to look for to make some of the dishes (ex. porcini mushroom powder and sun dried tomato paste- both which I have not yet found kosher certified :( )All in all there are some winners, some so sos and some losers. I enjoyed reading the book, not just cooking with it :)

One of my favorite cookbooks! All recipes are easy to follow and loved reading the little notes that tell you when there are are alternative ways of making the recipe. Highly recommend to anyone who loves trying new dishes!!

I bought this is a present, and it was well received. I even have gotten to eat a few of these recipes!

Unfortunately...I was mistaken to think that there would be some secret Jewish kosher recipes! I was hoping for restaurant secret beef brisket recipes, matzo ball soup, and more to impress my Jewish friends.

I've tried a bunch of the recipes and they're delicious. The pix are also gorgeous.

General overview:Good cookbook with some great new recipes.Pros:Some new ideas and cooking tips that have come to great use.Discovered a few new "must visit" restaurantsNot such pros:I was quite let down with the choice of recipes offered up by the 'big ticket' restaurants almost feels as if they're there solely name.I personally felt, the choice to print the poutine recipe from pizza pita was poor at best... Any recipe that consists of a few ingredients all of which can be bought in the soup mix aisle.. Is not worth the paper it was printed on... This cookbook is better than that!