The Lutéce Cookbook

“ A classic is born.

Here is the long-awaited cookbook from André Soltner, for decades the chef-proprietor of Lutèce, New York's most famous restaurant. Here is a record of all the wondrous dishes with which he dazzled his faithful customers for more than thirty years—333 recipes, carefully worked out, brought together for the first time.

Seymour Britchky, the noted restaurant reporter, sets the tone with an affectionate and colorful introduction; it tells the little-known story of the birth of Lutèce, and the charmed life it led under the aegis of André Soltner.

Then Soltner tells his own story, from nostalgic memories of his childhood in Alsace to reflections on matters of taste, wine snobberies, good ingredients, and the idiosyncrasies of the dining public.

But at the heart of the book are the recipes, wonderfully detailed and spelled out in André Soltner's own voice it is as if he were there beside you. Here are the glories of French classic cuisine prepared in Soltner's personal way; and here too are his signature dishes, the food of his beloved Alsace.

Try, for example:

• the famous chilled sorrel soup, or the warm pumpkin soup served in a pumpkin shell;
• then a pâté of quail, or a terrine of guinea hen, or a hot soufflé of sea urchins, or a ballottine of sole with an emerald-green herb sauce;
  • on to a roast pigeon with figs, or an Alsatian choucroute garni, or a filet of beef encased in brioche pastry;
  • accompanied by a galette of potatoes, or salsify frit-ters, or spätzele, or tomatoes Provençales grand-mère;
  • and conclude with a simple cherry clafoutis, or an elaborate pistachio mousse in flaky puff pastry with bitter-chocolate sauce, or Mama's lemon tart, or everyone's favorite-caramel ice cream.

  Now that André Soltner has retired as chef at Lutèce, this remarkable, generous cookbook is all the more valu-able, for it enables you to bring Soltner into your kitchen, and to create with him masterpieces that, but for The Lutèce Cookbook, would be only memories.

  André Soltner was born in Thann, Alsace, in 1932. At the age of fifteen he decided to become a chef. He trained in the French provinces and then in the Swiss Alps, before working in Paris at the restaurant Chez Hansi. In 1961, the founder of Lutèce, André Surmain, lured Soltner to New York to be its first chef. He eventually became a partner in the restaurant, and in 1972 its sole owner. After more than three decades at Lutèce, Soltner sold the restaurant in 1994, but he remains a part owner. In 1968, his talents were commended with the highest distinction, the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

  Seymour Brichky has been writing about food, wine, and New York restaurants for twenty-five years.”