Harris, the head chef at the Fifth Floor restaurant in the Harvey Nichols London store since it opened in 1992, has written the book with Hugo Arnold, a freelance writer who contributes regularly to the Sunday Times, Financial Times and Food Illustrated. Many of the recipes they present have had previous incarnations on The Fifth Floor's menu, but most are adapted for cooking at home. The contents are organised like a restaurant kitchen, starting with sauces, stocks and other essentials in the classic French tradition. Soups are given a separate chapter as are the comfort foods, rice and potatoes. Starters, poultry, game, fish, meat and puddings get conventional treatment, but a whimsical chapter of things--sardines, morels, berries, etc.--on toast has been added.

This is a cookbook which you will constantly refer to for inspiration. However, it won't languish on a coffee table, it will get stained with saffron dressing and creme chantilly. Unfortunately, that's also the book's only fault--the binding is unlikely to withstand the rigours of constant use. --Dale Kneen