John Gorham, chef and owner of Portland, Ore.'s popular Toro Bravo, has created a cookbook/memoir to share details of his life, cooking philosophies and recipes. The first section of Toro Bravo documents his childhood, how he came to be a chef and how he started his Spanish-inspired restaurant. His story is sometimes shocking (and rather profane), but it's also funny and fascinating. Then Gorham delves into the recipes, including spring onions with salbitxada (a Catalan sauce), spicy octopus and prawn stew and a bacon manchego burger. Each recipe has an accompanying vignette about why it's on the Toro Bravo menu--or where Gorham first learned to cook it.
Big bold fonts and bright photographs match Gorham's in-your-face style. Anyone wishing to cook some delicious Spanish food, or who enjoys food memoirists like Anthony Bourdain, will enjoy Toro Bravo. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm