Sunday Best: Cooking Up the Weekend Spirit Every Day: a Cookbook

JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • Make everyday meals something to celebrate with more than 100 recipes inspired by the Southern roots and Sunday suppers of Top Chef finalist Adrienne Cheatham’s upbringing.

“Adrienne channels so much joy and care into her delicious recipes, you can feel the warmth and knowledge on every page.”—Gail Simmons

ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Epicurious

At the core of chef Adrienne Cheatham’s debut book is the deep sense that everyday moments should be appreciated, celebrated, and made special for those you love. In this stunning personal collection, Adrienne showcases her signature style of cooking, sharing more than 100 recipes that combine her family’s Southern roots, her classical training in professional kitchens, and her distinct point of view, full of multicultural influences.  
 
Adrienne captures the culinary essence of “Sunday best” with fresh but familiar recipes that include a feast-worthy pork roast crusted with pecans, charred okra roasted with tomatoes and warm spices, skirt steak topped with chimichurri of sharp mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts tossed with a nutty brown butter. She also shares tips and methods for upgrading classic, staple recipes into a dish worth talking about, like a roasted chicken that gets incredibly deep flavor from a marinade made with stout and soy sauce or a split pea salad that suddenly feels special when tossed with a bacon-sherry vinegar glaze.  

Full of dishes that will soon be part of your own family’s beloved repertoire, Sunday Best will help you celebrate home cooking every day of the week.

Adrienne Cheatham has spent her career cooking in some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants, from Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin to Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster, until she struck out on her own and founded the popular pop-up series SundayBest. The name of that series and this book was inspired by the special set of clothes that many in the Black community had reserved for church. During segregation, people would put on their “Sunday best” just to go into town as a way of demanding respect from those who didn’t accept them as equal. This tradition and its meaning are at the core of Adrienne’s debut book, which shows how everyday moments should be appreciated, celebrated, and made special for those you love. Adrienne also competed on Season 15 of Top Chef, finishing in second place, has been featured as a speaker at Cherry Bombe Jubilee, and was the subject of a New York Times documentary series titled Taste Makers. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Sarah Zorn is a food writer and editor with more than a decade of professional experience. She’s the coauthor of numerous books, including Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen and Levant: New Middle Eastern Cooking from Tanoreen, and was the recipe tester for the Xi’an Famous Foods and Nom Wah Tea Parlor cookbooks. She’s also a regular contributor and recipe developer for outlets like Food Network online, Rachael Ray In Season magazine, Epicurious, Esquire, Eater, and Saveur.