Small Bites, Big Nights: Seductive Little Plates for Intimate Occasions and Lavish Parties

by Govind Armstrong

Whether he’s setting the scene at his acclaimed restaurant Table 8 in Los Angeles, entertaining the audience on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, or designing the menus for Hollywood hot-spots RokBar and L’Scorpion, chef Govind Armstrong knows how to create spectacular menus for occasions of all sizes. As Govind says, small plates encourage people to be more adventurous, to share food, and to enjoy the mélange of flavors and textures. In his first cookbook, Small Bites, Big Nights, he shows you how to put together a menu of small, sophisticated, sexy dishes and pair them with the perfect cocktail. The result? Guests get to enjoy a feast of flavors, and as the host, you’ll be able to relax and have fun, instead of spending the whole night in the kitchen.

Wow a crowd with hors d’oeuvres like Arugula, Dates, and Parmesan (a salad that’s finger food; Rare Tuna Crostini with White Bean Puree and Tapenade; or Seared Kobe Beef on Mini Yorkshire Pudding. To drink: Black Martinis. Barbecue sizzling treats like Grilled Endive with Serrano Ham; New Zealand Scampi with Heirloom Tomatoes and Summer Truffle Vinaigrette; or Grilled Chicken Thighs with Wood-Roasted Gazpacho and Avocado Salsa.

Make dinner for 8 unforgettable with Tender Bean Salad and Prosciutto; a deceptively simple Foie Gras–Stuffed Quail; and luscious Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis.

Warm up a cool night with bite-size comfort foods: Mini Onion Soup; Braised Chicken Oysters Piccata; and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Mousse.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2007

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library and was disappointed once I saw the recipes. The idea is that you make a few of these little plates for dinner. On a weeknight, these recipes are complicated enough that I would only have time for maybe one of the dishes. It's visually gorgeous but not realistic for my lifestyle.

(Big quibble for me: the author cooks at a restaurant in California called Table 8. So he has incorporated the number 8 into title headings: "Innov8" and "Cre8". It made me want to bang my head against a wall. It's not clever - you intentionally misspelled words.)

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The food at Armstrong's Table 8 is so diverse and interesting that it makes better sense to serve many small portions than only one or two large ones. This is a most useful cookbook with lots of practical advice for use in the home kitchen. It is marred by some mindless editor's insistence that cutesy words, made with the number 8, be inserted throughout, e.g. innov8, pl8, celebr8, cre8 and l8 night. Despite this annoyance, there are enough novel ideas shared in this text to make it a worthy addition to one's culinary library.

[Gaucho36 · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know the kind of restaurants where everything is a just two clicks too cute and over the top? This is that cookbook. Needlessly complex and difficult to prepare. I bought this book new over 15 years ago and haven’t used it in more than 10 years. We are moving and so this one is going to the used book donation site.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really beautifully done. It's obvious that a lot of care went into producing it. And the recipes look very good, but also very fussy. Many of them would have required me to go to multiple stores/markets to make one dish. So, the book wasn't so successful for making me want to cook these foods, but it did make me want to go to his restaurant the next time I'm in LA.

This book is definitely worth returning to when I have a bit more time on my hands for cooking and entertaining.