Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber

Knopf, 373 pp., $35

I can’t be the only person coming home from the farmers’ market with gorgeous produce and little idea exactly what to make with it. With Sunday Suppers at Lucques, Suzanne Goin has written the ultimate guide to turning your seasonal, local produce into exciting, world-class dinners.

Trained at such legendary restaurants as Chez Panisse, Olives, and L’Arpège, Goin secured her place in the pantheon of chefs with her insistence that the inherent, natural flavors of food must be the focus. An essential part of her approach is procuring fresh, local, and preferably organic ingredients. Her Los Angeles restaurant Lucques is recognized as one of the finest in the country, in part because of the extraordinary Sunday suppers she serves there. Each Sunday, a perfectly balanced menu showcases the produce of the season. As at a dinner party, the menu is prearranged, with each course complementing the others. These Sunday suppers have been mobbed since the restaurant opened in 1998, and with this cookbook the recipes are revealed.

In keeping with the dinner-party theme, the recipes are written for six and arranged in three courses, enabling one to re-create the Lucques experience at home. The recipes, however, are neither complex, nor laughably exotic. Cut the easy-to-follow recipes in half, and they are well-suited to a family dinner. There are light recipes such as Green Goddess Salad With Romaine, Cucumbers, and Avocado; Yellow Tomato Gazpacho (a luscious new take on the often acidic classic); and Sweet Corn Soup With Avocado and Cilantro. The main-course recipes are inspirational: Veal Chops With Summer Squash Gratin; Sea Bass Kabobs With Eggplant and Peppers; Saffron Chicken with Spring Onion and Sugar Snap Peas. Luscious, seasonal desserts – such as Cornmeal Shortcake With Peaches and Mint – round out each menu.

Which brings us back to the farmers’ market: With this book in hand, you will never be at a loss again when it comes time to prepare the bounty of the season.

This article appears in May 26 • 2006.

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Kate Thornberry worked in renowned Austin restaurants for 30 years while pursuing a reasonably successful career in music. She began contributing to the Chronicle in 1988 and became a regular contributor to the food section in 2006.