Synopses & Reviews
In a 19th-century townhouse in Center City, Philadelphia, white beans meet sauerkraut, beet root anchors the pots de crème, and broccoli rabe is served Philly style. Welcome to Vedge! Opened in 2011 by acclaimed chef Rich Landau and pastry chef Kate Jacoby (both former proprietors of Horizons, VegNews's 2006 Restaurant of the Year), Vedge may be the most innovative vegan restaurant in the country. Patrons savor plates large and small, all of which showcase vegetables as they've rarely been prepared before. Now
Vedge takes readers inside the kitchen, with 100 recipes that recreate this distinctive (and deceptively vegan) fare at home.
Here are recipes for Small Bites (French Breakfast Radishes with Nori, Smoked Tamari and Avocado), Plates (Porcini and Celery Root Shepherd's Pie), and special dishes featured on the restaurant's popular "Dirt List" made from just-reaped ingredients (Charred Shishito Peppers), as well as tips and techniques from Chef Landau (such as how to make mushrooms the main event in BLT Sliders), luscious desserts from Chef Jacoby (such as Chocolate Stuffed Beignets), and even cocktail recipes and wine pairing recommendations.
Review
"This cookbook is about putting vegetables front and center in astonishing and innovated ways." TheKitchn.com
Review
"[Vedge] offers deeply satisfying vegetable dishes for year-round eating." Epicurious.com
Review
"[Vedge] reintroduces vegetables, teaching home chefs how to cook them up, dress them down and enjoy their natural flavors....And, like any great cookbook, it has a list of cocktails after the desserts. Vedge proves that vegetables aren't just meat's sidekicks." The Chicago Tribune
Review
"Landau and Jacoby's Vedge restaurant in Philly is the standout vegan restaurant in the U.S. It won an award from us last year, and another from GQ this year. The chefs call their joint a vegetable, not vegan, restaurant — and it's a careful distinction, more about celebrating intense, fresh, and surprising flavors than serving up a philosophy. This book will widen any cook's horizons, with dishes like baked carrots with a Dijon-and-sauerkraut chickpea sauce that evokes Reuben sandwich flavors....The beet juice-sweetened pot de creme was astounding: rich, dense, and smooth, like a little bowl of truffle filling. Anyone who cooks vegetables should buy this book." Cooking Light
Review
"Philadelphia's award-winning vegan restaurant is good enough to win over any hard-core carnivore. For the first time, Vedge is releasing a cookbook with recipes for celery-root shepherd's pie and chocolate-stuffed beignets." GrubStreet.com
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"Chefs Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby are veggie virtuosos. Expect every recipe in Vedge to be a mouthwatering celebration that will dazzle your senses and taste buds." Kris Carr, New York Times-bestselling author of Crazy Sexy Kitchen
Review
"Rich Landau is a highly skilled, inspirational chef who always makes me happy with his food and his energy. He and his wife Kate have created an incredible restaurant in Philadelphia and a work of art in this book. Vegan? Yes! Magic, no... this is pure passion at work! I can't wait to get my hands on this book and the golden beet recipe!" Amanda Freitag, Executive Chef and Chopped Judge
Review
"Just like dining at Vedge, flipping through the pages of Landau and Jacoby's cookbook makes one feel the couple's commitment to spreading vegetable love...their approach to vegetables is nothing but pure and entirely relevant." Philadelphia City Paper
Synopsis
The most exciting vegetable cooking in the nation is happening at
Vedge, where in an elegant nineteenth-century townhouse in Philadelphia, chef-proprietors Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby serve exceptionally flavorful fare that is wowing vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores alike.
Now, Landau and Jacoby share their passion for ingenious vegetable cooking. The more than 100 recipes here — such as Fingerling Potatoes with Creamy Worcestershire Sauce, Pho with Roasted Butternut Squash, Seared French Beans with Caper Bagna Cauda, and Eggplant Braciole — explode with flavor but are surprisingly straightforward to prepare.
At dessert, fruit takes center stage in dishes like Blueberries with Pie Crust and Lemonade Ice Cream — but vegetables can still steal the show, like in the Beetroot Pots de Crème.
With more than 100 photographs, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and useful tips throughout, Vedge is an essential cookbook that will revolutionize the way you cook and taste vegetables.
About the Author
Rich Landau is a co-owner of Vedge, a modern vegetable restaurant that opened in 2011 to rave reviews from diners and critics alike. Landau has been at the forefront of vegetarian dining since 1994, when he opened his first restaurant. In 2009, he served the first-ever vegan dinner at the James Beard House. He lives in his native Philadelphia.
Kate Jacoby is a co-owner of Vedge, with her husband Rich Landau. Jacoby is Vedge’s pastry chef and manages its cocktail and wine program. She lives in her native Philadelphia.