The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual

When Frank Falcinelli told his grandmother about the Brooklyn restaurant he planned to open with childhood friend Frank Castronovo, she instructed them to call it a spuntino - the Italian word for both a snack and a place to have snacks. Today, their tin-ceilinged, brick-walled restaurant (along with its newer Manhattan cousin) has a line out the door. This smart and entertaining cookbook may have an old-fashioned look, but the recipes are precisely what we want to eat now: Meatballs with Pine Nuts & Raisins, Fennel, Celery Root & Parsley Salad with Sliced Red Onion, Lemon & Pecorino, Red Wine Prunes with Mascarpone. With easy tutorials on making fresh pasta or tying braciola, and an amusing discussion on Brooklyn-style Sunday 'sauce' (ragu), "The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Kitchen Manual" shows why "The New York Times'" former restaurant critic Frank Bruni called the Franks' food 'completely satisfying'.