Okay Top Chef junkies, here's the cookbook you've got to own. Top Chef The Cookbook not only offers up the best of the first three seasons of the addictive reality show, it also gives you something of a behind the scenes peek into how the show works and why it is so appealing. The introduction is written by Tom Colicchio (one of the show's primary judges), and it is interesting and conversational, making me feel like I was sitting down with him, asking questions about how he got involved with it and receiving candid answers in return.

It takes this book 35 pages to get to the recipes, because they have devoted the beginning of the book to setting up the show, sharing unknown secrets about how it works and offering up lots of wisdom about why the show is as appealing as it it. I found this section to be totally engrossing and lost half a hour reading it (I'm a known skimmer, something has to be really interesting for me to read it closely and deeply).

But finally, the recipes do arrive and they are dishes that the chef-testants dream up when they are on their game and the food gods are smiling. In other words, these recipes are the best of the best to come out of the show. Many of the recipes are simple, familiar dishes that the chefs have elevated (such as waffles, steak and eggs and eggs in a hole) so that they are intriguing while still being recognizably tasty. Others are slightly more outrageous and unique (although nothing like some of what Richard dreamed up on this most recent season).

Essentially, this is a cookbook built around a TV show and it will feed those of you who love to watch Top Chef. But it is also an interesting and serviceable cookbook that would serve you well, even if you'd never watched a single episode. That's a tough line to walk and they've done it admirably.