Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook    by DeDe Lahman, Neil Kleinberg & Michael Harlan Turkell Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2010 (2010) Hardcover      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth With a most engaging cover, the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond from New York's Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant opens to a wonderland of photographs and accompanying recipes. If you can get past the alluring menu in the first few pages, you come upon the Introduction – Love & Butter. The authors met at a restaurant named A Salt and Battery (clever, hunh?) and never looked back. Married ten months later, they fell in love with butter, and, much to our benefit, eventually opened their own restaurant – a tiny thirty-two-seat café that is now world famous for its brunch – using butter copiously. Be sure to read this section. It's the story of success. There's recipe for their Biscuits. These are a must to produce, but be sure to read the tips at the side of the recipe. And continue to recipes for the sandwiches made from these biscuits. Move on to Muffins & Scones. They look so good, both the muffins and the scones, I'm ready to eat the pages. What I'm definitely going to make is The Perfect Omelet. I produce a decent one, but not one I could call perfect. Maybe I'll just start at the beginning of this chapter and work from one recipe to the next. This welcome cookbook then goes through recipes for: Pancakes (The Best in New York), Soups, The Sandwich – King & Queen, Fried Chicken (A Clinton Street Specialty), Sides, Condiments, Dessert (Made from Scratch), and last but not least, Drinks. What strikes me the most – after, of course, the beguiling photographs and luscious recipes - is the enthusiasm of the authors. And their delight in the satisfaction of their customers. They have parlayed a small business to one that has customers lined up waiting for their doors to open. Their reputation has grown to include Tribeca, Toronto and Tokyo! The Clinton St. Baking Company is a perfect Christmas Gift for the new cook. For the older cook also. I surely do like it and I classify as old. I also plan to give this to my budding chef granddaughter who will be fourteen next month. She loves to bake and I will benefit from her endeavors. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews