Publisher's Weekly Review
Rex-Johnson, a food and wine writer from Seattle, has created what she calls "a love letter" to the Pacific Northwest, riding the wave of place-based cookbooks. One may not be able to dine at the Herbfarm, in Woodinville, Wash., for instance, but Rex-Johnson allows home cooks to recreate the restaurant's Sea Scallops with Spiced Carrot-Dill Sauce. Better still, she realizes that some of the simplest and most delicious fare is what winemakers serve to their friends and families. She calls it "vineyard cooking," and she has persuaded many of its practitioners to offer up their favorites. Most charming are her stories of leisurely and convivial meals spent at the table with her subjects, such as the hearth-baked pizza she shares with Bob Betz of Betz Family Winery. The book is organized by region, and the dishes are eclectic-don't expect to find things according to course-and each is offered with a wine pairing, usually a varietal. Unfortunately, the recipes are laid out a bit confusingly, with ingredients in a sidebar, and often split over two pages, but the book is comprehensive, and the recipes are appealing and not overly fussy (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Rex-Johnson, author of other cookbooks about the Pacific Northwest (The Pike Place Market Cookbook) and a columnist for Wine Press Northwest, here presents more than 100 recipes from some of the region's leading chefs and vineyards, organized by locale. Each recipe, from Dungeness Crab "BLT" to Cedar-Planked Idaho Trout, is accompanied by a description of the restaurant or vineyard as well as a wine suggestion, and color photographs show off the bounty and beauty of the region. For area libraries and others where restaurant and wine cookbooks are popular. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.