Tom Douglas, author of the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, suggests three outstanding cookbooks.

Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook by Alice Waters

Going back to it, I still feel like I could be sitting around the table for one of her Ridge Zinfandel dinners, or a little Provencal affair with Richard Olney.

China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Tropp

Barbara might have been the tiniest woman I’ve ever known, and certainly one of the feistiest! Her biggest concern was always authenticity and it showed in every letter of the book. I miss it—and her-- every time I return to San Francisco.

Eating in Italy by Faith Heller Willinger

We used this book on our first trip to Italy as a guide, and were never disappointed with the finds all throughout northern Italy—even a surprise tour with Faith herself, yielding the finest experience of prosciutto, Parma, risotto… She has continued writing with Red, White and Green, and Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. She has done a brilliant job, not just talking about art, but about the true artisans of Italy.