Bestia: Italian Recipes Created in the Heart of L.A. [A Cookbook] (Hardcover)
By Ori Menashe, Genevieve Gergis, Lesley Suter
This debut cookbook from L.A.'s phenomenally popular Bestia restaurant features rustic Italian food that is driven by intense flavors, including house-made charcuterie, pizza and pasta from scratch, and innovative desserts inspired by home-baked classics.
IACP AWARD FINALIST
Since opening in downtown Los Angeles in 2012, Bestia has captivated diners with its bold, satisfying, and flavor-forward food served in a festive, communal atmosphere. Now, in this accessible and immersive debut cookbook, all of the incredible dishes that have made Bestia one of the most talked-about restaurants in the country are on full display. Rooted in the flavors and techniques of Italian regional cooking, these recipes include inventive hits like fennel-crusted pork chops; meatballs with ricotta, tomato, greens, and preserved lemon; and agnolotti made with cacao pasta dough. Irresistible desserts such as apple cider donuts and a chocolate budino tart, from co-owner and pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, end the concert of flavors on a high note. With chapters on making bread, pasta, and charcuterie; sections on stocks and sauces; and new ideas for getting the most from your cooking by layering flavors, Bestia delivers a distinctively innovative approach to Italian-inspired cooking.
Ori Menashe is co-owner and executive chef of Bestia.
Genevieve Gergis is the co-owner and pastry chef of Bestia.
Lesley Suter is the former deputy editor for Los Angeles magazine and a two-time James Beard award-winner for food writing.
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"The recipes are uncompromising, calling for smoking, then dehydrating and finally grinding anchovies, and smoking pork fat to infuse bourbon to make an Old Fashioned. Those who push forward, however, are rewarded with dishes that smartly layer flavor like stinging nettle pappardelle with mushrooms and a fried egg, and a butterscotch-coconut tart."
"L.A.'s insanely beloved restaurant, Bestia, has put together a cookbook full of the same flavorful regional Italian cooking served at the beautiful restaurant. There are chapters on making bread, pasta, and charcuterie, as well as sections about building flavor with stocks and sauces. The accessible instructions just might make it possible to recreate the flavors you loved so much on your last trip to Los Angeles."
"Now, after nearly a decade in business, what is arguably the city's best Italian restaurant can enter our kitchens. ... The Bestia staples are all there, including the cavatelli alla Norcina, the agnolotti alla Vaccinara with oxtail, the 'nduja, and the branzino with herb confetti, as are a few cocktails, for good measure. Much like the agnolotti, this cookbook is a must-have."
—Time Out Los Angeles
Praise for the Bestia restaurant:
"A soaring indoor-outdoor fantasy of a modern Italian restaurant."
"Bestia exemplifies the modern Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, but at this point, Bestia may be best known as the downtown restaurant you can't get into."
—Jonathan Gold, Los Angeles Times
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / Italian
Cooking / Individual Chefs & Restaurants
Cooking / Regional & Ethnic / American / Western States