Kindness & Salt: Recipes for the Care and Feeding of Your Friends and Neighbors

This excellent cookbook features recipes from Angulo and Crowell’s two Brooklyn restaurants, Buttermilk Channel and French Louie. The recipes are honed versions of classic bistro cuisine, which, as the duo note in a friendly intro, is “based in the traditions of home cooking.” They share useful tips, such as a rundown of the four different types of salt and how to use them (La Baleine fine and course salts, Morton Kosher, and Maldon sea salt, which is used for finishing). Dishes are enhanced with unique touches, like the chicory rub that imparts a pleasant bitterness to quail kebabs. Cheesy waffles accompany fried chicken—a main dish at Buttermilk Channel that the authors note outsells all other contenders by a factor of three. A classic steak frites is dissected and explicated with everything from descriptions of various cuts to advice for preparing beef in advance. The restaurateurs also offer five essential cocktails along with sensible variations (for example, their negroni becomes the Fox 8 with Salers aperitif instead of Campari). Charming drawings are the perfect style match: fun and informative without feeling twee. The authors fill this fun and festive cookbook with hearty, flavorful bistro dishes. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary. (Nov.)