Two of Sonoma County’s best-loved chefs have collaborated on a new cookbook with head-to-head recipes celebrating the bounty of Wine Country.
Riffing on everything from frisee salad and cheesecake to grilled lamb, bread pudding and roasted chicken, Santa Rosa’s Josh Silvers of Syrah Bistro whips up refined California-French dieshes while Jeff Mall of Zin Restaurant in Healdsburg puts his own spin on comfort-classics.
The idea for the cookbook came about after a dinner the two chefs created a dinner at local winery Rodney Strong — showcasing their unique styles using the same Sonoma ingredients. So enamored was the winery that it became a partner in the publishing of the book.
Bursting with rich photos and local stories, its pretty enough for a cocktail table, but has simple enough recipes to make it a kitchen staple. (Not to mention it has Josh’s coveted crab cake recipe.)
In the coming months, Jeff and Josh will be doing several dinners to celebrate the cookbook’s release, including a special stint at the James Beard House in New York City on October 21. You can catch them on Sept. 16, 2009 at Syrah Bistro (5:30 to 9pm, open seating, $80 per person) or Sept. 23, 2009 at Zin Restuarant (5:30 to 9pm, $75 per person). The dinners will feature Rodney Strong wines.
You can find the book at the restaurants for $24.95, Zin (344 Center St., Healdsburg) or Syrah (205 Fifth Street Santa Rosa).
We enjoyed a beautiful dinner at Zin Garden with Jeff cooking up a country “storm” hosted by Relish. The recipes for the night came from this beautiful book. From veggie rows to grill, from fruit trees to dessert plate every bite was a shear pleasure and locovore delight.
Thank you for a great night on your farm and a beautiful addition to my local cookbook collection it’s beautiful!
Karen Alves
Congratulations to everyone involved with this book. Robert Larsen from Rodney Strong Vineyard was amazing at keeping everyone on track with the creative vision that Josh, Jeff he and Alan created when we all started this project. To Jennifer Barry for putting it together and Linda Murphy was eloquent in transcribing our Chefs’ passion to text. Susan was a key player behind the scenes, as most Chef’s wife’s are, and should be proud of her contribution. As part of the Syrah team, I hope you enjoy the book as much as we loved sharing our recipes, passion and the love of Sonoma County….
You two ROCK! I am proud to know you both. kp
Way to go Josh and Jeff!