Examines the the creative process of culinary composition as it explores the intersection of food, imagination, and taste. Through interviews with more than 30 of America's leading chefs - including Rick Bayless, Daniel Boulud, Gray Kunz, Jean-Louis Palladin, Jeremiah Tower, and Alice Waters - the authors reveal what defines 'culinary artists, ' how and where they find their inspiration, and how they translate that vision to the plate. Readers will discover the language of food, and how culinary artistry manifests itself through all the senses. Through recipes and reminiscences, chefs discuss how they select and pair ingredients, and how flavors are combined into dishes, dishes into menus, and menus into bodies of work that eventually comprise their cuisines. Culinary artistry takes you inside the art of menu planning, where order and presentation are carefully thought out, and shows how leading chefs' menus are painstakingly created. The book also reveals how a menu can communicate a chef's personality and offer opportunities for artistic expression."

The chef as artist -- Meet your medium -- Composing flavors -- Composing a dish. Why food matches? ; Food matches made in heaven ; Seasoning matches made in heaven -- Composing a menu. Common accompaniments to entrées -- Evolving a cuisine. The evolution of leading chefs' cuisines ; Desert island lists -- Culinary art as communion -- Resources -- Biographies of chefs.