The Olives Table: Over 160 Recipes from the Critically Acclaimed Restaurant and Home Kitchen of Todd English

In The Olives Table, the artistry of one of America's top chefs is on display, with more than 160 dazzling recipes from Olives and from Todd's home kitchen, illustrated with beautiful photographs by Carl Tremblay.

In 1989, Todd English and his wife Olivia opened the original Olives; since then the restaurant has moved to larger quarters, and Todd and his bold, inventive Mediterranean-inspired cooking have earned an international reputation. Voted one of the Top Ten Restaurants by Esquire magazine and the Best New Restaurant by Boston magazine, it has also been voted Favorite Restaurant in the Zagat Guide to Boston and Vicinity.

Todd's robust, intensely flavored food begs to be savored and shared with others. And since the complexity of English's cooking comes from the layering of tastes and textures—not exotic equipment or techniques—by following the careful, step-by-step instructions, even the timid cook can recreate the dishes that the patrons of English's hugely popular Boston restaurant enjoy at the Olives table.

Pull out the stops and begin a meal with Todd's signature Olives Tart, baked in a crisp crust and rich with olives and creamy goat cheese, pair Gingered Slow-Braised Lamb Shanks with Apple-Fennel Mashed Potatoes for your main course, and finish with Falling Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce. Or for a lighter repast, try Pan-Fried Cornmeal-and-Cumin-Rubbed Cornish Game Hens served with Arugula Salad with Tomato and Cucumber Juice; finish with Mango-Raspberry Granita. Plan a simple but deeply satisfying supper of Roasted Clams with Chicken, Tomatoes, Artichokes, and Bacon served with roasted new potatoes and end with Gingersnap Risotto Pudding. Whatever meal you decide to create from these recipes, you won't be disappointed.

Todd English is the chef-owner of Olives and the three branches of Figs, all award-winning restaurants located in Boston. Todd graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with honors; he has cooked with Jean-Jacques Rachou at La Côte Basque and was executive chef at Michela's, an award-winning Northern Italian restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1994, Todd was named Best Chef in the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation after having been named National Rising Star in 1991; he is also the recipient of the first Robert Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence. He has taught cooking classes in the United States and abroad and has been featured in Bon Appétit, The New York Times, Food & Wine, The Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, and other periodicals too numerous to mention. He lives with his family in Boston.

Todd English is the chef-owner of Olives and the three branches of Figs.