Italian-American chef’s cookbook of sophisticated recipes from his Del Posto restaurant in New York

Perhaps the book evolved as slowly as Ladner’s cuisine at the fine-dining Italian restaurant, which, he writes, is still changing.

“When Del Posto opened more than a decade ago [in 2005], I had no idea that we might be able to create a new style of sophisticated Italian-American cuisine. This was never the goal, nor did I think we were capable of such a feat. Every restaurant is a work in progress, and we are still developing. What I can say for certain is that I have been dedicated to building a bridge between the classic, regional cuisine of Italy and America’s culinary ingenuity. Over the last decade, I have completely committed myself and our kitchen to harnessing every ounce of potential that traditional Italian has to offer fine dining in America. Del Posto considers New York to be Italy’s (unofficial) 21st region. We have created our own regional Italian cuisine, based on what has been available here, as well as New Yorkers’ expectations ...

“[When it opened] Del Posto had no precedent – an Italian restaurant of its size, level of ambition and price point had never existed in New York City before. Who could possibly be interested in eating food this expensive and convoluted on any given night? ... We had no gimmick or any particularly compelling new angle. But we firmly believed that traditional cooking, familiar flavours, and recognizable food will never go out of fashion, and we wanted to present it with old-world, choreographed service.”