On the Menu: The Worlds 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.

For the past 25 years Nicholas Lander has reviewed restaurants and menus from around the world for his weekly restaurant column in the Financial Times. He wrote, priced, and edited the menus at L’Escargot in London, where he was among the first to write menus in English and to change the menus according to the seasons. His first book, The Art of the Restaurateur, was named a Book of The Year by the Economist. Michel Roux, Jr. is a two-star Michelin chef at the London restaurant Le Gavroche.