Rarely does a cookbook come along that contains absolutely nothing tempting enough to put forth the effort to cook. However, Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr. Lyan & Friends is one of those rare cookbooks. Mr. Lyan runs two very famous bars in London, and there is no doubt that he is gifted when coming up with fancy drinks and running bars. However, in an effort to add upscale recipes, Mr. Lyan has paired his tempting drinks with famous chef’s recipes that have absolutely no appeal to the mainstream cook or foodie. Most of the recipes are for dishes that will most likely appeal to the pretentious, who think that eating ostentatious and extravagant foods will make them somehow better than all of the other humans who eat.

Even in a cookbook as unappealing as this (personally, I have over 7,000 cookbooks in my recipe collection and have over 40 years of experience reviewing and cooking from them, and so know what constitutes a good or a poor cookbook for most people), there are positive aspects. The photographs, especially of the drinks, are beautiful. The prose is well-written and easy to understand. The book is organized and it is easy to find what you are searching for.

This is a cookbook for food snobs. Since the focus is on the drinks, it is also a book for those looking for unique and fun cocktails. It is for that reason alone – fancy drinks - that Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr. Lyan & Friends has any appeal at all, and the only reason to actually purchase it. For those who appreciate good cookbooks, this is definitely one to skip.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Food is such a vital part of our lives. For many professionals, free time and socializing are almost foreign concepts. This book is a celebration of getting together and relaxing and enjoying the people we care for at the same time as we eat and enjoy good food.

Almost everyone seems to have some foods from their past which are tied into some shared family history. Aunt Gen's cranberry orange salad, gran's chestnut turkey dressing, that broccoli cheddar casserole that cousin Judy always brings... etc.

This book is a very adventurous trendy gastronomique version of those homey dishes. These are edgy, impressive, challenging and (to me) very unusual. The collaborators in this cookbook are all, as far as I can tell, professional foodies, most of them actively cooking for very high end restaurants. Many of the ingredients are (again, to me) bizarre and difficult to source. A few examples: fennel pollen (p. 30), moscatel vinegar (p.34, presumably sherry vinegar would be an acceptable substitute?), 300g (10½oz) beef muscle, from a happy, grass-fed cow (p. 42), salted wild garlic capers (same recipe), gentian liqueur (Kamm & Sons for preference, p. 70), etc. There is also a lot of very specialized and expensive kitchen equipment specified in the recipes.

I usually try to test several recipes before reviewing cookbooks, however, this time around, I could only easily source the ingredients for one of the recipes: Cherry Kirsch Cake (p. 110). It was lovely, and I closely followed the directions (including adding eggs one at a time with flour to prevent splitting), but my cake split quite ferociously. I think if I try the recipe again, I will probably add a pan of water to increase the humidity in the oven (or maybe source eggs from truly happy chickens) ;)

The photography is lovely and compliments the recipes very well. (I was also fascinated by the varied and beautiful tattoos of the creators pictured in the book).

Final thoughts. VERY fancy, very trendy, fairly difficult. For foodies who intend to impress and really love the process of food and creating food.

Three and a half stars, would be 4-5 for die-hard foodies.

Delicious and practical. The book contains easy steps recipes for cocktail parties. The recipes can be used from summer festivities to New Year’s Eve. Fresh and creative!