Why Bouchon?

Ok, so I haven't made any of the recipes yet. That's not exactly true, but I'm starting over so let's pretend. That doesn't mean getting this far has been a cakewalk. I spent at least the better part of one (1!) day trying to determine which book would be the best to achieve the goals I have (Quick goal refresher: 1. Learn 2. Satisfy infatuation 3. Eat) There were some practical limitations that ruled out some immediately. For example, there's no way I was cooking through the Joy of Cooking. That would mean one recipe a day for 12.33 years. That's a little longer term than I had in mind. Some other books I own are a little too narrowly-focused. Bouchon seemed to be a happy medium in pretty much all of the logistical departments. It covers just about every imaginable aspect of every meal, but in a concise, instructional manner.

More importantly though, Bouchon is a book of French bistro cooking. Really good French bistro cooking at that. At least it is supposed to be, we'll find out. It covers the range from simple to complex, comfort food to delicacy, and fun to serious. It has a type of at-home and relaxed feeling that is appealing to me, and that was the deal maker.