Cookbook Review: Dining at The Ravens by Jeff & Joan Stanford

Title: Dining at The Ravens: Over 150 Nourishing Vegan Recipes from the Stanford Inn by the Sea
Author: Jeff Stanford, Joan Stanford
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: February 9th 2016
Source: Netgalley/BenBella Books


Book Description:

At The Ravens, dinner is more than just a meal. It’s a feast for your spirit.

Located on the Mendocino coast at the only vegan resort in the United States, The Ravens Restaurant at the Stanford Inn by the Sea embodies a mindful, compassionate, and sustainable dining experience in an enchanting and unforgettable setting. Now in Dining at The Ravens, Jeff and Joan Stanford, the Inn and restaurant founders, bring the Ravens culinary experience into your home.

Teeming with beautiful photographs, Dining at The Ravens features more than 150 delicious vegan recipes and shares the charming history of the Inn and restaurant, cooking tips for perfect recipe execution, and even inspiration for creating your own garden.

Discover one of the restaurant’s most popular breakfast dishes, Citrus Polenta with Braised Garden Greens and a Creamy Toasted Cashew Sauce, and many others, such as:

Ravens Sea Palm Strudel
Indian-Spiced Polenta Napoleon
Mushroom Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Burger
Ravens Spicy Peanut Curry Sea Palm
Sweet Summer Corn Bisque
Peach Huckleberry Cobbler

Pull up a seat and find out why vegans and non-vegans alike flock to The Ravens for an extraordinary dining experience.

Review:

★★★★

First, let me preface this review by saying that I'm not a vegan. That being said, I'm always up to try new vegan dishes.

The book is divided into two sections. The first part is dedicated to information about The Stanford Inn, USA's only vegan resort located in Mendocino, California. This is in addition to The Ravens, which is the (obviously) vegan restaurant that's at the inn. It was interesting and well written, but not something that I was particularly interested in. I came for the recipes, which is what the second part of the book is.

These recipes are divided into smaller sections by course. Chapters include Morning Food, Sauces Dips and Spreads, and Salads and Dressings.

This collection of recipes is certainly impressive, but it's a bit complex for a beginner. Though there's numbered steps, there's a lot of technique and components involved here. Seems like it might not be easy for beginners, but should be easy enough for a new vegan with prior cooking skill. The amount of components kind of threw off the flow of the recipes, because so many of them are on different pages from the recipe that calls for it. It's annoying to flip through.

But, the photography is fantastic.

Some of the recipes that I think sound the most delicious include Forbidden Risotto with Sunchoke Lemon Cream, Sun Dried Tomato Polenta with Foraged Mushrooms and Arugula, and Candy Cap Mushroom Creme Brulee.

I think this is a great cookbook for the vegan foodie, and it would make a great gift for a vegan/vegetarian or a healthy eater. I'd recommend it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.