Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull.

by John Gorham, Liz Crain, David Reamer (Photographs)

At the heart of Portland’s red-hot food scene is Toro Bravo, a Spanish-inspired restaurant whose small plates have attracted a fiercely loyal fan base. But to call Toro Bravo a Spanish restaurant doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. For chef John Gorham, each dish reflects a time, a place, a moment. For Gorham, food is more than mere sustenance. The Toro Bravo cookbook is an honest look behind the from Gorham’s birth to a teenage mother who struggled with drug addiction, to time spent in his grandfather’s crab-shack dance club, to formative visits to Spain, to becoming a father and opening a restaurant. Toro Bravo also includes 95 of the restaurant’s recipes, from simple salads to homemade chorizo, along with an array of techniques that will appeal to both the home cook and the most seasoned, forearm-burned chef.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2013

Reviews

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My spouse and I ate this highly recommended Portland restaurant a number of years ago, and I am not sure why, but it just didn't wow us. Maybe it was us, maybe it was the night, and maybe they paled in comparison to some truely exceptional food that the city has to offer.

The cookbook, which I came upon when I was looking for one by another Portland chef, is a whole other story. This is an exceptional reflection on both the food and the people who are making it. I have made several of the vegetable side dishes and they have been distinctive, easy to prepare, unusual in both flavor and presentation. I had to order an expensive and unusual ingredient, and, as the recipe described, it makes the dish. One thing about cooking at home is that not only do you control the ingredients, you also enjoy food at a fraction of the price of a high end restaurant and this cookbook allows you to do just that. Highly recommended.

[Jill G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book, and the story about John's background and the whole road to Toro Bravo was really interesting. And it's a nice addition to the "things that make you annoyingly in love with PDX" canon. I don't really know how to rate cookbooks, though, yet, because so many of these recipes from the actual recipe part just seemed way over my head/skill level. Which I feel might be the case with any/all restaurant cookbooks? Or maybe any/all cookbooks in general? Haha. I dunno. I'm going to attempt an experiment where I compare some of the actual restaurant meals v. what happens I try to make them myself, so we'll see.

[Degan Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still want to eat at the restaurant but I wasn't much impressed with this as a cookbook. 60+ pages of barstool stories (little bits about Chef's life told, I suspect, with a bit of bravado and exaggeration) speak more to the restaurant's and crew's popularity than anything a home cook might want to know. And then recipes look great but out of the whole pack of them there were only 2 I wanted to make (Basque's kiss cocktail and butter-braised turnips in mojo picon), both of which proved too complicated to source and make before I had to take the book back to the library. Oh well. I'll make sure I try them when I visit.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Gorham, chef and owner of Portland’s popular Toro Bravo restaurant, has created this cookbook/memoir to share details of his life, cooking philosophies, and recipes. The first 90 pages or so document his childhood, how he came to be a chef, and how he started Toro Bravo, a Spanish-inspired restaurant. His story is sometimes shocking (and rather profane), but is also funny and fascinating.

Full review will appear in Shelf Awareness.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cookbook with a strong voice that tells me a story about how the food and recipes came to be. Also, recipes so far are delicious: scallops with romesco sauce, Moroccan tuna on couscous, brussels sprouts with bacon sherry cream, etc.

[Mike Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic recipes throughout, what made this a 5 star is his openness of telling about his family history and the trials and tribulations of being a chef.