The Da Fiore Cookbook: Recipes from Venice's Best Restaurant

Owned by its chef Maria Martin and her husband Maurizio, Da Fiore is a much-lauded Venetian seafood restaurant. Son Damiano Martin's The Da Fiore Cookbook offers almost 100 recipes from the restaurant, from antipasti to desert. Whether "traditional," such as Mediterranean-Style Ceviche or Marinated Striped Bass with Aromatic Herbs, or more original, like Fried Soft-Shell Crabs on Arugula and Orange Salad and Chestnut-Filled Calamari, the simply conceived but deeply flavorful dishes are uniformly exciting. Though the recipes are easy enough to prepare, their success for the home cook will depend largely on ingredient freshness—there's no hiding place in these dishes for less than the best. Cooks should also be aware that some of the ingredients called for--imperial shrimp, for example--are either unavailable here or, like John Dory Fillets, hard to come by. (In some, but not all cases, substitutions have been suggested.)

Apart from "entrees," the book offers a tempting array of soups, pastas, and vegetable recipes such as Asparagus and Parmigiano Custard, Penette with Sea Scallops and Broccoli Florets, and Porcini Mushroom and Onion Soup. A small dessert chapter yields delicious finales like Venetian Fried Cream and Sweet Focaccia with Figs, plus an enticing selection of cookie formulas. The author also provides a brief tour of Venice, plus a discussion of its unique "flavors." Also helpful is seafood buying instruction, which includes the insight that smaller fish are more delicate and sweeter tasting than larger specimens. The book is illustrated with color photos. --Arthur Boehm