A Taste of History                GAMBIT WEEKLY, August 23, 2005

Roy F. Guste Jr. was just 24 years old when he was named the fifth-generation proprietor of New Orleans ' famous Antoine's restaurant, which his great-great grandfather Antoine Alciatore started as a boarding house kitchen in 1840. Through the years, the boarding house gave way to a revered restaurant that melded its French roots with the abundant seafood and other produce and culinary stylings of Louisiana to create some of the city's classic dishes.

Guste shares the secrets of Antoine's dishes in Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook (Guste Publishing). It's not your standard cookbook, but it's not quite a coffee table book either, as it foregoes glossy color photos of dishes and people for drawings, paintings and interesting histories of many of the dishes that have made the restaurant famous. It also gives detailed recipes for most of those dishes, with the most visible exception being his great grandfather Jules Alciatore's creation of oysters Rockefeller. "I have not omitted this to retain the secret of the original recipe created by my Great-grandfather Jules," Guste writes in the book's introduction. "I quite simply feel that it is not mine to give. It is as though it is a part of the physical structure which cannot be removed. And it is most definitely a part of the magic that still exists, more strongly than ever, in the soul of Antoine's."

Recipes for most of the restaurant's other most highly regarded dishes are included, along with sauces and cooking methods needed to achieve good results. Guste believes having such recipes in a cookbook will not decrease customers' desire to visit the establishment or diminish the magic of an evening at Antoine's.

"This book is a statement of my own feelings ... that there is no value to 'secrets' in cuisine," Guste writes. "Most likely in past times there was some value in protecting one's own ideas and creations, but today, the value lies in quality of production. .. It is also my experience that those persons most interested in producing our dishes themselves are also our most frequent visitors."

Antoine's cookbook begins with a detailed history of the original owner and the restaurant's beginnings, accompanied by art and photographs of the family and restaurant over the years and an early menu in which the most expensive items were steak dishes for $1.75. The rest of the book is dedicated to teaching gourmands how to make a wealth of appetizers, soups, fish, seafood, poultry and meat entrees, sauces, vegetable dishes (including the famed Pommes de Terre Soufflees, or Puffed Potatoes), salads, desserts and even specialty drinks. Many of the recipes -- some of which now are found on the menus of respected restaurants around the world -- have an interesting story about characters and events that inspired their creation, and Guste always pays respectful homage to their thoroughly French influences. The book is an affordable must for anyone who revels in the delectable dishes that have defined New Orleans ' classic French-influenced cuisine or the experience of fine dining.

07/28/05 - BOOK SIGNING - August 12th, 2005 - Antoine's Restaurant - New Orleans

Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook

2005 Edition

A Signing

with

Roy F. Guste, Jr.

Friday, August 12th, noon til 3:00pm

at the restaurant

713 Saint Louis Street

New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

 For mail-order purchases and information, or to contact Roy F. Guste, Jr.,

go to

http://www.royguste.com

New Orleans Times-Picayune, Thursday, July 28, 2005

ANTOINE'S RESTAURANT COOKBOOK

By Roy F. Guste Jr.

Guste Publishing, $34.95, Introductory price: $24.95, P&H Included

First published in 1979, a new edition of "Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook" debuted this summer, returning in full-color hardback form. As well as being a document of New Orleans culinary history, it is a beautiful book, its creamy pages loaded with artwork by Merryl Tanner and Coleman Heriard. The classic recipes and stories are all here (except, of course, the secret recipe for oysters Rockefeller). There is a page devoted to the famous pommes de terre souffléées, puffed potatoes, and lots of other history. Although it's available at local bookstores, the author is offering signed and delivered copies through his Web site, www.royguste.com.

Judy Walker

What are her favorite cookbooks? "My favorite cookbooks are

Southern Food & Beverage Museum Newsletter, July 2005

Review Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook, by Roy Guste , Jr.

Keeping a record of the past is important. When the record is kept by those involved, there is a perspective that cannot be captured by even the keenest outside observer. That is the perspective reflected in Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook by Roy Guste, Jr. The book has just been reissued. It reminds us again of the food that made up Creole cuisine as distinguished from Cajun. In addition to recipes, it tells family stories and tells the history of the New Orleans at the same time. It is particularly interesting that because the city was once so important, and because its food was so renowned, that we memorialized people in food. Oysters Rockefeller, Oysters Bienville, Eggs Sardou, to name a few.

The recipes are presented in a very straightforward style. Some of them are easily prepared in the home kitchen, but I will wait for my next meal at Antoine's for pommes de terre souffléées. In addition to the stories and the recipes, I also like the design of the book. Instead of photos of the prepared food, which always date a book through trends in food styling, this book has agreeable portraits of people, old photographs, old menus and very delightful watercolors of the ingredients that are key to Creole food. It is visually delightful and gastronomically tempting. It is good to have this book available again and not be forced to luck upon it in used books stores

Reviewed by Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.

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