OP: Culinary Chronicle Volume 5: South and South Eastern France

Opt Art, 2001. Hardcover. Fine.

This amazing series by the Swiss publisher Opt Art, with text in both English and German, focuses on different regions, showcasing restaurants and chefs through reproductions of their menus and recipes accompanied by remarkably vivid large-format photographs of plated food. The series began in 1997 and was published annually until renowned photographer Bruno Hausch, who led the project, was killed in a mountaineering accident. 

The release of each handsome, slipcased, full cloth-bound volume generated much excitement. All volumes have since been sought by collectors who recognized the value of the perspective they provided. 

Volume 5: South and South Eastern France (2001) includes Thierry Marx’s Château Cordeillan-Bages, the Pourcel brothers’ Jardin des Sens, L'Oustau de Baumanière under Jean-André Charial, Michel Guérard’s Les Prés d'Eugénie, and 19 other restaurants.

Ours, alas, lacks the slipcase but is otherwise Fine and unused.