These aren’t necessarily the cookbooks I reached for most in 2025, those would be the worn, splattered favorites that live permanently on my counter. These are the books I grabbed when I needed a push. When I wanted to stretch beyond my comfort zone, try something new, or remember why cooking can feel electric instead of just necessary.
If you’re an ambitious home cook looking for inspiration that challenges you without being impossible, these are the books that mattered to me this year. They’re the ones I think will actually stick around.
Unreasonable Hospitality
Non-cookbook / Hospitality Mindset
This isn’t a cookbook, but it changes how you see food, service, and people. Will Guidara writes with the kind of clarity and generosity that makes you rethink how you host, how you create, and how you move through the world. It’s one of the most energizing reads for anyone who loves restaurants or wants to create meaningful experiences.
Why I’m recommending it for 2025:
- It rewires the way you think about generosity
- Changes how you approach hosting and cooking for others
- A perfect reset book for anyone burned out
Vibe: warm, adrenaline-filled, big hospitality energy
Who it’s for: dreamers, entertainers, and creative people who want to do things with intention
Frantzén by Björn Frantzén
Fine-dining / Restaurant Cookbook
This is Nordic precision meets global inspiration. The photography is dramatic and intimate, and the seasonal structure makes the whole book feel like moving through a quiet, high-end tasting menu. It’s art, not weeknight cooking, but the notes at the end are actually generous and thoughtful.
Why I’m recommending it for 2025:
- One of the most beautiful restaurant cookbooks in years
- Inspires plating, technique, and creativity
- Perfect for collectors who appreciate design
Vibe: snowy, clean, deeply refined
Who it’s for: people who love chef books and visual storytelling
The Four Horsemen: Food and Wine for Good Times
Restaurant / Brooklyn Cooking / Natural Wine
This book feels like the best kind of dinner party, the one where nobody’s trying too hard, the wine keeps flowing, and somehow everything tastes better than it should. Nick Curtola’s food is deceptively simple: butter beans with kimchi and salt cod, corn salad with pine nuts, trout with pear. Pete Wells called it “effortlessly casual” before realizing nothing about it is effortless. It just looks that way because Curtola knows what he’s doing.
The book opens with James Murphy (yes, LCD Soundsystem James Murphy) telling the story of four friends with zero restaurant experience opening a place in Brooklyn that accidentally became Michelin-starred. It’s funny, self-aware, and genuinely moving. The recipes are backed by Justin Chearno’s natural wine notes, which are conversational and actually useful instead of pretentious.
Here’s the thing that sets this apart from most restaurant cookbooks: people are actually cooking from it. The celery, walnut, date salad gets requested at every dinner party. The sweet corn salad is “beyond amazing.” These aren’t dumbed-down versions. They’re the real recipes, just written so you can actually make them at home without a brigade and a salamander.
Why I’m recommending it for 2025:
- Finally, a restaurant cookbook you can actually cook from
- Recipes are interesting but totally doable
- The wine pairing essays are approachable and smart
- Funny, sweet stories throughout that live up to the hype
Vibe: wine bar at golden hour, cool but not try-hard, smarter than it lets on
Who it’s for: adventurous home cooks, natural wine people, anyone who wants to cook like they live in Brooklyn (whether they do or not)
Burnt Ends by Dave Pynt
Restaurant / BBQ / Technique
This book is pure adrenaline. Smoke, ash, fire, char, but written with surprising clarity. One reader called it “part graphic novel, part cookbook,” which is perfect: Per Anders Jorgensen’s photography is deeply saturated and chaotic in the best way, almost cinematic. You flip through expecting a coffee table showpiece and then realize the recipes are actually achievable, even if you’ve never worked a professional kitchen.
The techniques are deep and obsessive. This is a masterclass in live fire cooking, not just throwing meat on a grill. And the book has serious F-bomb attitude without being obnoxious about it. It’s the kind of energy that makes you want to clear your weekend, light something on fire, and see what happens.
Why I’m recommending it for 2025:
- One of the best modern BBQ books, period
- Recipes are more doable than they look
- Photography that feels like a punch in the face (complimentary)
- High-quality printing and binding, this is a book that’ll last
Vibe: smoky, rowdy, masculine energy with unexpected precision
Who it’s for: BBQ fans, grill nerds, technique collectors, anyone who misses working a professional kitchen (or wants to feel like they did)
These are the books that pushed me this year. Not all of them will land on your shelf, but if even one of them gives you that spark to try something you’ve been putting off or stretch into unfamiliar territory, that’s the point. Let me know which ones you end up reaching for.