Bar Amá is one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles - a fantastic bar with some of the most delicious elevated Tex-Mex food I've tasted. This cookbook not only does justice to the food, but is a great work of history and culture around Centeno's experience growing up in San Antonio and experiencing true Tex + Mex. His recipes and stories remind me so much of my family's traditions around food: many of the salsas and dishes are named after/for his relatives, and he has a whole list of ingredients that are unique to Mexican food that are essential to this kind of cooking (for example: Mexican oregano is worlds away from the oregano pizza spice we're likely used to).

In terms of the recipes, I was initially a bit miffed that many recipes called back to others - like you had to make a salsa listed earlier in the book in order to make a main course listed later. But again, I realized that's very similar to my family as well - there are certain staple ingredients and spice mixes and sauces that are necessary for making a dish truly authentic. The cookbook has entire sections on grilling, cocktails, and bar food, which to me sets it apart from other cookbooks of the same style. The recipes are easy to follow if you have all the right ingredients, and I look forward to making more soon! I would definitely get this book as a gift for others who love Mexican food; the stories and images would make this a great coffee table book, and the recipes are great for an avid home chef.

I was given an ARC PDF of Ama in exchange for a candid review.

I truly enjoyed this cookbook. The photographs are very crisp and beautiful. The recipes and instructions are easy to follow and clear. I thought it was a very sweet idea to include the mentions from TX to family throughout the book for certain recipes and/or ingredients. I am definitely planning on trying out some of these recipes!

This cookbook has fresh new innovating recipes for people who love to cook Mexican. The pictures are vibrant, colourful and your mouth will water when you see them. For every course there is a multi recipes and I can't wait to start cooking with this book. One minus some ingredients are hard or harder to get. There for this book gets 4 points!

This cookbook is absolutely filled with recipes that look and sound amazing.
There are beautiful photographs of the food.
There’s an absolute ton of recipes that I immediately decided I’d have to try. I’ll be making the meatballs with tomatillo salsa first.
Whether you’re looking for a delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner dessert or snack, this book has it all.
I’m so glad I got to check out this cookbook and I can’t wait to start cooking the recipes.

I think someone uploaded the wrong book. As a former Texan, I was looking forward to reading authentic Tex-Mex recipes. However, this is a baking book named Tartine. I am now sad.