# Eleven Madison Park vs. The French Laundry



## robenco18 (Oct 26, 2012)

Hello,

What would you recommend for an ambitious at home cook who has cooked out of Julia Child's book and Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc? Currently I'm back and forth between Eleven Madison Park and The French Laundry. I took them out of the library and enjoy both, but I'm back and forth. I still need to learn a good amount of technique and I feel The French Laundry has helpful information in it, but at the same time I'm pretty good at figuring things out so I'm wondering if the creativity of Eleven Madison Park might be more beneficial. I'm also asking you guys as you all probably have more experience with these books then the 4 days I've had them out of the library. 

Any comparative opinions of these two books? And I realize they each have their own narrative, but I don't care as much about that as that is the one thing I will be taking away from them while I have them checked out from the library. From a cooking and education/development perspective, any strong opinions?

Thank you!


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

EMP is a fantastic cookbook.   I am completely blown away by many of the recipes and find a ton of inspiration from many of the photos.  Its a beautiful book and is a must own in my opinion.   That being said, TFL is "the bible" of restaurant cookbooks.  In addition to being full of wisdom from Keller, the dishes are just a fantastic display of what modern fine dining should be.  The recipes are advanced, but you can cook every recipe in the book at home with some patience.  I think much of the EMP cookbook is unapproachable in a home kitchen without a brigade to assist you.

I am a very happy owner of both books, and you cant go wrong with either, but for me TFL is the clear choice.


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