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Estela
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.
Everyone wants to eat at Ignacio Mattos's Estela, from the world's top chefs to ordinary food lovers. (Michelle and Barack Obama chose Estela as the one restaurant they wanted to eat at during a visit to New York.) It's because each Ignacio Mattos dish is the quintessence of right. He just nails it--his inventive and playful layering of flavors and textures, combined with precision in execution, makes each forkful positively electric.
His food is influenced by Spanish and Italian cooking--the birthright of all who grow up in Uruguay--but he is equally in love with American food, both high and low. You will find dishes like a Waldorf salad or a sauce inspired by his infatuation with a cheesy topping encountered at a 7-Eleven; yet each is unlike anything you have ever tried. Familiar, yes, but astonishingly better. He offers seasoning and flavoring tricks--the use of different salts and vinegars in a given dish (not one type but two or more), the use of juiced greens in place of sauces that make everything bright and light, the way he dresses salads (he doesn't)--that will elevate your everyday cooking.
The book opens with a chapter on kitchen snacks (staff favorites) and is followed by nine chapters, including one on Estela Classics--dishes which can never leave the menu due to popular demand (e.g., Mussels Escabeche on Toast and Beef Tartare with Sunchoke Chips). The chapter on beloved salads includes Endive with Walnuts and Ubriaco Rosso; Celery Salad with Mint and Formaggio di Fossa; and Apricots with Thai Basil and Fresh Chile. There are recipes for brunch, mains featuring fish and meat, and of course, desserts.
"Estela is one of those restaurants that inspire the shit out of me," says chef Sean Brock. Home cooks will love the immediacy and brilliance of Mattos's food and will be intrigued and enlightened by the ways he brings forth deep flavor.
Everyone wants to eat at Ignacio Mattos's Estela, from the world's top chefs to ordinary food lovers. (Michelle and Barack Obama chose Estela as the one restaurant they wanted to eat at during a visit to New York.) It's because each Ignacio Mattos dish is the quintessence of right. He just nails it--his inventive and playful layering of flavors and textures, combined with precision in execution, makes each forkful positively electric.
His food is influenced by Spanish and Italian cooking--the birthright of all who grow up in Uruguay--but he is equally in love with American food, both high and low. You will find dishes like a Waldorf salad or a sauce inspired by his infatuation with a cheesy topping encountered at a 7-Eleven; yet each is unlike anything you have ever tried. Familiar, yes, but astonishingly better. He offers seasoning and flavoring tricks--the use of different salts and vinegars in a given dish (not one type but two or more), the use of juiced greens in place of sauces that make everything bright and light, the way he dresses salads (he doesn't)--that will elevate your everyday cooking.
The book opens with a chapter on kitchen snacks (staff favorites) and is followed by nine chapters, including one on Estela Classics--dishes which can never leave the menu due to popular demand (e.g., Mussels Escabeche on Toast and Beef Tartare with Sunchoke Chips). The chapter on beloved salads includes Endive with Walnuts and Ubriaco Rosso; Celery Salad with Mint and Formaggio di Fossa; and Apricots with Thai Basil and Fresh Chile. There are recipes for brunch, mains featuring fish and meat, and of course, desserts.
"Estela is one of those restaurants that inspire the shit out of me," says chef Sean Brock. Home cooks will love the immediacy and brilliance of Mattos's food and will be intrigued and enlightened by the ways he brings forth deep flavor.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 2018
66 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 6, 2018
Estela is a beautiful restaurant which serves gorgeous plates of foie gras in grape leaves and panna cotta with vinegar and honey, so it is no surprise that this attractive hardcover is chock full of amazing pictures and recipes. Must have for any foodie/New Yorker.
November 29, 2018
A restaurant cookbook that actually has plenty of useful tips and tricks to be plucked throughout. Can't see myself making all of the recipes, but a few, like the salads, are manageable. Endive amazing. Otherwise, lots of inspiration and beauty.
October 7, 2020
Ignacio follows his own path, cooking with joy and confidence, approaching food from all perspectives, making bold statements yet remaining humble. Estela is serving some of the purest, most beautiful food in New York City.
Alice Waters
Alice Waters
November 23, 2018
3.5 stars
May 13, 2024
A restaurant cook book. Still has many reciepes for home cooks, definitely some flavor inspirations. some great sauces although overall not a cook your way through this book.
July 31, 2018
I love the pictures, the stories, and the descriptions throughout the book. The recipes are easy to follow, some of the ingredients could be hard to find if you live in a smaller town or a more rural location. This would be a cookbook that I would pick up and try the recipes I could and just enjoy reading the ones I wasn't able to make.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews