On the Menu (The World's Favourite Piece of Paper)

On the Menu presents over 100 stunning, full-color reproductions of menus—some at the cutting edge of contemporary culinary innovation, and others that are relics from another time: the last menu from The French House Dining Room before Fergus Henderson departed for St. John; and the final menu from Ferran Adrià’s three Michelin-starred elBulli in Spain. From the classic to the innovative: a Christmas menu served during the siege of Paris in 1870, which featured rats and zoo animals; the wittily illustrated menu at Quo Vadis in London, which gave the restaurant a new lease of life; and many, many more. Between the reproductions, Lander examines the principles of menu design and layout; the evolution of wine and cocktail lists; the menu as a record of the past; and he even takes us behind the scenes at Mario Batali’s Babbo, to sit in as the staff are briefed on the evening’s menu. Featuring interviews with world-renowned chefs Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck), Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana), René Redzepi (Noma), Michel Roux, Jr. (Le Gavroche), April Bloomfield (The Spotted Pig), Daniel Boulud (Bar Boulud), Ruth Rogers (The River Café), and many more.