19 Chefs Tell Us Their Favorite Book About Food And Drink

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Before all the modern noise of staring at our screens, knowledge and entertainment could more simply be found in the written word, delivered in the handy form of a book. While chefs are often too busy in the kitchen to have free time, that doesn't mean they're not well read. Books chefs have pored over can range from the classic to the contemporary, helping them find and form their culinary identities.

As we moseyed around the delicious-smelling grounds and various tasty events the 2026 edition of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival had to offer, we asked some of the world's most beloved chefs to share the books about food that truly spoke to them. From the sharp mind of Anthony Bourdain to the wild mind of Salvador Dalí, there's a bounty of books we should all be bookmarking and gobbling up with our eyes.

Jet Tila is a real high flier in the restaurant scene and an ever-present figure on TV. For food books, Chef Tila offered up two. "I think everyone needs to read "The Omnivore's Dilemma." I think that's required reading and you could take it as deep as you want to heart," Tila revealed as the first one that sprung to mind. 

While not exactly a food book, his follow-up choice centered on hospitality — Danny Meyer's "Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business." Meyer seems to know what he's talking about, having found success with Union Square Cafe, before moving on to found one of the best QSR chains in the biz, and one to work at too — Shake Shack.

From the kitchens of Le Cirque and The Lambs Club, to the chattily yummy TV show "The Kitchen," chef and restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian has made quite a mark on the American dining scene. The one book he earmarked for us was "Le Répertoire de la Cuisine" by Louis Saulnier and Théodore Gringoire. Zakarian called this classic work, which features 6,000 French recipes, "A beautiful philosophical book about the love of food."

Zakarian has also contributed a few culinary works for bookshelves as well. He previously released the cookbook "My Perfect Pantry," and recently saw his latest, "Original Food: Recapturing the Joy of Eating" released. 

Chef JJ Johnson is a sparkling personality who serves up his Afro-Caribbean roots in rice bowls that draw diners to make a trip to the Harlem location of his FIELDTRIP, with additional locations at Rockefeller Center and JFK Airport. While it's not exactly a book you could find at an airport, Johnson threw his full support behind his favorite cookbook — "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking" by Samin Nosrat. True to its name, it focuses on those four titular keys, with 100 recipes to try at home.

Johnson is no slouch when it comes to cookbooks himself, having penned two. There's the one he co-authored with Danica Novgorodoff, "The Simple Art of Rice," and the other with Alexander Smalls, "Between Harlem and Heaven," which won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook.

One of the more sparkling personalities in the world of food is Andrew Rea and his Babish culinary universe. The man literally brings fictional food creations to life, although he hasn't quite nailed the Krabby Patty. When it comes to this golden question we asked, Rea had several recommendations at the ready, including most of the works of the seminal chef Jacques Pépin. He singled out Pépin's memoir "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen" as a rather interesting book.

Two other books that hold a place on the bookshelf of his heart are Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential." The former satisfies many kneads from pizza dough to challah, while the latter influential work he dubbed a bible of sorts.

One of the leading chefs in contemporary Mexican cuisine remains Aarón Sánchez. The ever-present James Beard Award-winning chef can be found hosting "Restaurant Impossible: Last Call," cooking up a storm at his Louisiana spot Johnny Sánchez, or dedicating time to charitable initiatives revolving around food. His favorite book plays into the culinary world he is actively preserving and celebrating — Maricel E. Presilla's "Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America."

Presilla has a doctorate in medieval Spanish history and could be considered to have an unofficial one on Latin American cuisine, having also served as a mentor to Sánchez. She has authored several books, but Sanchez chose "Gran Cocina Latina" because "It's basically a bible of Latin cuisine. It encompasses all the cuisines from Central, South America, Mexico."

Chef Ham El-Waylly always seems to be smiling, whether in the public spotlight or behind the scenes at the restaurant Strange Delight, which he runs with his wife Sohla. El-Waylly relayed that two books are quite the delight to him. "The first book that I really fell in love with that really taught me a lot about cooking was Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen," he told us. He expanded by saying, "I learned about the ins and outs of why food does the way it does when you cook it a certain way. It's a great encyclopedia of knowledge."

The second book recommendation hits closer to home, literally, from someone within his home — his wife Sohla's "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook." He praised it as "The best book around if you're starting to cook and want to learn more or if you're a professional looking to sharpen your skills a little bit."

Andrew Zimmern is a man of all seasons and seasonings. Through TV, social media, and books, he's taken us on many "bizarre" and appetizing adventures that are well worth eating up. The four-time James Beard Award-winning chef's book pick actually harkens back to the namesake of those very awards. Zimmern told us what he tells people all the time: "Read James Beard's 'Theory & Practice of Good Cooking.'"

Beard was dubbed the "Dean of American cookery" by The New York Times in 1954, and his work has remained a steady guide for chefs of every skill level ever since. He wrote several tomes, including the classic "The James Beard Cookbook," but his 1977 work continues to win praise decades after its publication. 

Michael Voltaggio is the younger of the famous Voltaggio brothers who have put their stamp on the food scene from coast to coast with such restaurants as Voltaggio Brothers Steak House, Vulcania, and Wye Oak Tavern. Out of all the book choices we were made privy to, the one that piqued our interest the most was Michael's pick — "Les Dîners de Gala" by surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. Dalí was always playful with food in his art, and this cookbook, filled with stunning imagery, is truly one of a kind.

Voltaggio is proud to own a first edition of the book, which he thinks doubles as a great coffee table adornment, as well offering up wild recipes to try. He likes "to be able to open that up and see food through an artist's perspective and understanding the importance of the composition of a meal and the emotion behind it."

For his book of choice, Michael's older brother Bryan Voltaggio leans heavily on Michael Ruhlman's book "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking." The book was formative in helping him rethink his approach to cooking. "I learned a lot about ratios and how the science of cooking and being able to formulate stuff really simply," Voltaggio told us. "Because we grew up as savory chefs who didn't really embrace what the pastry kitchen was doing."

He has since put Ruhlman's rules in to practice, noting, "Now I think we're cooking a little bit more precise, so that way we can actually make adjustments as we're creating recipes and catalog them in ways we can always go back and revisit them and then slightly adjust them."

Sarah Raffetto was born into New York City pasta royalty, with her family's signature shop selling fresh goods since 1906. Sarah and her partner Emily Fender have expanded the family's footprint by founding Petite Pasta Joint, a pop-up and private events company that operates out of Raffetto's. While Italian dishes are her specialty, her book choice hails from a cuisine with Indian influences — "Dishoom: From Bombay with Love." The cookbook is written by the two co-founders of the beloved London restaurant chain, Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar, as well as chef Naved Nasir.

Raffetto recalled, "It was so exploratory for me. And I got it during COVID and I just really loved discovering all sorts of new Indian recipes." She and other New Yorkers can brush up on the book's dishes ahead of Dishoom's planned Manhattan location, which opens in 2027.

India Doris' culinary map is colored by her Caribbean roots, British upbringing, and time well spent in kitchens across Europe. After touching down in New York City over a decade ago, she is now executive chef and co-owner of Markette and The Argyle. Doris's first pick was Calum Franklin's "The Pie Room," which runs the gamut from sweet pies, like rhubarb, to mouthwatering savory ones, like caramelized onion pie and beef Wellington. Doris saw the deeper meaning of it all by saying, "It's about building ties and how he takes inspiration from train station ceilings and other things."

Her other choice was a fresher pick, having been released in March 2026 — "My Jamaican Table: Vibrant Recipes from a Sun-Drenched Island" by Andre Fowles. It's billed as "the first major Jamaican cookbook of its kind," and has a foreword by none other than Bruce Springsteen.

Danny Garcia's resume includes a stint at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and winning Season 21 of "Top Chef." The Brooklyn native has returned home with a new concept in the works, a line of products centered around his Latin-American roots — Only Goods.

Speaking of goods, his two book picks are fresh on shelves. The first is "Nixta Taqueria Presents: From Tacos to Tahdig: Recipes and Stories from Mexico, Iran, and the In-Between," by Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi. It features stories and more than 100 recipes culled from the husband-wife team's respective heritages. The other is "Dad, What's for Dinner?: Lifesaving Recipes to Avoid Meltdowns, Have Fun in the Kitchen, and Keep Your Kids Well Fed: A Cookbook," by David Nayfeld and Joshua David Stein. With a foreword by Gwyneth Paltrow, this book is helpful not only to dads, but also to moms and anyone else with the impossible task of keeping picky kids well fed.

After reviving the kitchen at Brooklyn's Kellogg's Diner with her own spin, including New York's best meatloaf, chef Jackie Carnesi moved on to a new venture in 2026 — the cocktail and raw bar Bar Susanne. When asked to pick a favorite food book, she name-dropped the one she read when she first arrived in New York — Gabrielle Hamilton's "Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef." Hamilton made a name for herself with the New York restaurant Prune, but had her own far-flung journey from rural kitchens to ones across Europe before finding her place.

While the native Texan's star continues to rise, Carnesi hasn't forgotten her own journey. She explained, "I was such a hungry cook, and reading about a female chef that was pregnant and still working in the kitchen, which would later be my reality, it was really inspiring."

One of the most beloved cookbooks of all time, the "Joy of Cooking" was originally written and self-published by Irma S. Rombauer in 1931 and has been revised and updated several times by her descendants ever since. Julia Child even once wrote a note within the book, calling it "A fundamental resource for any American cook." That certainly applies to Catherine Willhoit, co-founder of The Hive, a pair of popular New Jersey coffee and bakeshops.

Willhoit doesn't have a lot of free time, but admitted "I am very inspired by those incredible recipes in the book. And I love the history of a cookbook." "The Joy of Cooking" actually entered her life as a gift from Willhoit's then newly minted mother-in-law, who herself leaned on it when raising her own daughter. From one generation to the next, it's a book that is full of endless joy.

Miami is always quite the hotspot, and chef Giorgio Rapicavoli has been on fire in the city's dining scene. The "Chopped" winner has intertwined his Argentinian-Italian roots with popular fare at his restaurants Eating House and Osteria. Chef Rapicavoli's heart belongs to "The French Laundry Cookbook" by the acclaimed chef Thomas Keller. He explained, "It's the first cookbook I fell in love with. The recipes are timeless and incredible. It's an amazing book, beautiful photography."

"The French Laundry Cookbook" is but a taste of what Thomas Keller and budding chefs can whip up in the kitchen. He actually a has a whole collection of books, one of which, "Ad Hoc at Home," is considered to be among the best cookbooks of the century so far. 

Hailing from Queens, New York, Tashea Channell channels her Caribbean influences into every dish she touches. Known as Chef Honcho and owner of The Honcho Club, a private dining experience, her cooking is truly boss. Her pick for best food book was Kwame Onwuachi's memoir "Notes from a Young Black Chef."

Chef Onwuachi's incredible life story seems like it could fill seven books, and the one he co-authored with Joshua David Stein takes readers from growing up in the Bronx, to being sent to Nigeria to learn respect, before finding a world of trouble on the streets upon his return. Onwuachi rose above it all thanks to his passion for cooking, which led him to greener pastures, including appearing on "Top Chef" and winning the James Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year shortly before the book's publication.

Sabrina Persaud had worked a government job for years, but then decided to leave it all behind and pour her passions into gluten-free baking with her Brooklyn-based Flutter Buttery Bakery. We can personally attest to how delicious her gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are. One book that really spoke to Persaud was "The Measure of My Powers: A Memoir of Food, Misery, and Paris" by Jackie Kai Ellis. The author battled depression and an unhappy marriage, before rediscovering herself through travel and food, and eventually opening the Beaucoup Bakery in Vancouver.

Persaud drew inspiration from the book, which as she described had "a recipe at the end of each chapter that really carries the emotions that she had moved through in that period of life." Persaud added that she loves "the work that she's [Ellis] put out into the world for anyone who's starting a bakery."

One of New York's most beloved restaurants is Shopsin's, where namesake chef Kenny Shopsin and his wife Eve once held delicious sway. Despite various location moves, the restaurant endures today thanks to their family. One fan is Café Mars's Paul D'Avino, who told us that "Kenny Shopsin is one of the absolute greatest American chefs that has ever lived." No wonder his choice for a top food book is the one the revered chef co-wrote with Carolynn Carreño — "Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin."

Drawn from Shopsin's famously oversized menu highlighting over 900 items, the book includes recipes for High School Hot Turkey Sandwiches and Cuban Bean Polenta Melt. D'Avino also took the time to give props to the 2004 documentary, "I Like Killing Flies," which focuses on Shopsin's and the man who imbued the restaurant with his unforgettable personality.

Alongside Paul D'Avino, Chef Juan David Garcia is making out-of-this-world fare at Café Mars in Brooklyn, with several menu items using olives as centerpieces. It's hard not to start a meal there with a creative twist, popping a Jell-O shot — Jell-Olives, where Castelvetrano olives are encased in a gelatinous cube made of Cocchi Torino and Campari. This inventive item and the cafe's Olive Maribor cake are featured in a brand new book that Garcia recommends — "The Little Book of Olives" by Anna Hezel.

Hezel described the book on Instagram as "full of recipes and insights from chefs I admire, cool photography from Isa Zapata, and weird little surprises along the way." Café Mars left a congratulatory comment, writing, "We're so proud to have been a little part of such a wonderful book!!"