The Best Cookbooks For Spring 2016

It's going to be a delicious season. Check out the rest of our Spring Preview here.

Come springtime, cookbooks start to sprout up like some of our favorite vegetables.

This season is no exception. From a flame-licked cookbook from two of Portland's hottest chefs to a tiny book packed with tons of history and recipes for one classic cocktail, here are the 22 best of the bunch coming out this spring.

Chefs Can Write, Too
It seems like so many chefs get a cookbook deal these days, but we're not complaining, because they're taking the art in so many directions. Floyd Cardoz, the chef behind the legendary but now-closed Tabla, has laid low since leaving White Street in New York City last summer. But now he's back with an upcoming restaurant and Flavorwalla ($30), his ode to vibrant spices in everyday cooking. Octaphilosophy ($60) tells the story of one year in the kitchen at Restaurant André in Singapore, chef André Chiang's modern French restaurant, which ranks number 46 on World's 50 Best. Alex Raij and Eder Montero, the chefs behind Txikito in New York City, celebrate the pintxos, escabeche and more of northern Spain's Basque region in The Basque Book ($30). And we seem to be in a Korean cookbook boom, especially with Judy Joo's Korean Food Made Simple ($30), which includes 125 recipes from the Cooking Channel host and chef/owner of Jinjuu in London and Hong Kong.

Photo: Aubrie Pick/Cravings

All the Feels
Settle down for a long stretch on the couch with these engrossing memoirs. Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi bares all in Love, Loss, and What We Ate ($27), tracing back to memories of eating in her grandmother's South Indian kitchen and even revealing the unraveling of her relationship with ex-husband Salman Rushdie. Eddie Huang jumps back on the boat for his sequel, Double Cup Love ($27), where he drags his brothers on a journey back to China to unpack his Chinese American identity. 32 Yolks ($28) chronicles famed silver-haired NYC chef Eric Ripert's ascent in the kitchen.

Photo: Kristina Gill/Tasting Rome

Vacations Days, Set
Get ready to transport yourself: Roman cuisine may be trendy now, but Katie Parla and Kristina Gill, authors of Tasting Rome ($30), have long been obsessed with the ancient cuisine of Italy, diving into little-known dishes like spaghetti alla gricia. Jacqueline An unfolds her family history, the famed An family behind Crustacean in Beverly Hills, in Ăn: To Eat ($35) through secret recipes for pho and drunken crab and her mother's move from French colonial princess to refugee to California restaurateur. Crowned the "golden girl of Persian cookery" by The Observer, writer and supper club thrower Sabrina Ghayour focuses on the Persian pantry in her second book, Sirocco ($30). You probably won't find whale blubber in Claus Meyer's The Nordic Kitchen ($30), but you will find seasonal, family-friendly feasts in the Noma cofounder's cookbook.

Already Famous
What do models eat and hip-hop stars think about? Supermodel Chrissy Teigen lets loose in Cravings ($30) with unabashed headnotes poking fun at her Thai background and recipes for Hasselback potatoes and excellent lettuce wraps. The Roots drummer and fried chicken lover Questlove examines creativity in the kitchen with chefs across the country in Somethingtofoodabout ($30), lending a whole new meaning to "food for thought."

Photo: Courtesy of Around the Fire

Summer Daze
These books dedicated to meat and fire have us longing for summer now. Give your backyard a warm welcome with Around the Fire ($35), a beautiful book centered around cooking over fire from Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton of Ox in Portland. The Wurst of Lucky Peach ($26) is the quarterly food journal's ode to sausages, from cvapi to Texas Hill Country encased meats. Grilling guru Steven Raichlen lays out the seven essential steps to mastering smoking with Project Smoke ($23), along with 100 recipes. Sure, we all know about regional ramen or breakfast sandwiches, but American burgers? Burger expert George Motz maps out the variations in burgers across the nation in The Great American Burger Book, from Hawaii's loco moco to the New York-style pub burger.

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Cheers to That
Drink in these liquid-focused titles. Luksus chef Daniel Burns and gypsy brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø share space at Tørst in New York City, and now they share a book, too. The two team up for Food & Beer ($50), a thoughtful look at how beer's been elevated to wine in pairing. Punch's Talia Baiocchi and writer Leslie Pariseau focus on a single drink for Spritz ($19), sifting through its storied history and sharing riffs on the classic cocktail.

Photo: Tom Thulen/Heartland

Party in the USA
These books make you want to eat your way through the land of the free. James Beard Award-nominated chef Lenny Russo touts the abundance of the Midwest in Heartland ($35), named after his beloved restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, and featuring homeland classics like midwestern cassoulet. Anya Fernald, the founder of Belcampo Meat Co. in California, makes the most of her pantry and what's in season with Home Cooked ($35), bringing pragmatism into the kitchen with unfussy recipes for both weeknight meals and dinner parties. Chefs are embracing the art of breakfast, and food festival founder Lee Schrager and writer Adeena Sussman tour the country for America's Best Breakfasts ($23), detailing regional specialities and local hot spots.

Find Luksus here, or in our DINE app.
Find Tørst here, or in our DINE app.