I really like this cookbook, I just love their sauce and the recipe for the sauces hold true to what you can buy. Also it is a interesting read for a cookbook

The recently ordered copy of Rao's Cookbook was a REPLACEMENT for my original copy, which I used so frequently that the pages were all falling out.

This book is filled with excellent recipes that are tasty, easy to prepare, and inspirational. I have eaten many times at Rao's , so these recipes ring a bell. But even if I had never dined there, I believe that this book would be a big hit. From basics like "Seasoned Egg Batter" and "Marinara Sauce" to excellent dishes (e.g. "Veal Francese", "Shrimp Parmigiana","Swordfish Livornese", and many many more), these tried and true recipes produce irresistable meals.

The significant essays at the beginning, the excellent photos of people and food, and the quotations from notables that are scattered throughout, successfully communicate the unique flavor of Rao's, and encourage the reader to give the recipes a try. DON'T MISS THIS EXCELLENT BOOK.

I recently ate at Rao's in Eat Harlem and the food was excellent so I decided to buy this book and give the recipes a shot, well the first recipe I made was the Sunday gravy and it did not come out as expected. The gravy was more like soup and no matter how long I cooked it it would not thicken up. I will continue to try recipes from this book and update this post with my findings. Only reason for the 3 stars is because I am giving it the benefit of the doubt being I ate there and I loved it.

Excellent cookbook because my background is Italian and many of the recipes are exceptional and without question has satisfied everyone that has eaten with us for a celebration. Thank you for this experience. Hopefully you will keep in touch regarding additions.

Can't get any more authentic than this. This is real Italian cooking! So far, every recipe is wonderful and easy to make.

This is one of the first cookbooks I ever purchased, and it has helped me produce meal after superb meal over the years. A friend of mine from graduate school introduced me to Rao's Cookbook, and told me he had tried for years to score a seat at the fabled restaurant when he lived in New York City... to no avail.

His compromise was to purchase this cookbook and recreate the dishes in his own kitchen. We spent many an evening making minestrone, red sauce or shellfish fra diavolo. The lemon chicken is one of the best recipes I've found.

The stories and footnotes throughout the cookbook add a nice historical perspective and a diversion from your standard plain-Jane cookbooks.

The only things holding back a 5 star rating are a) price, and b) the recipes are a bit heavy on the olive oil. It's easy enough for you to scale back on the oil, though, after you run through the recipes a time or two.

Overall, I nice addition to anyone's cookbook collection.

I ORDERED THIS COOKBOOK FOR MY WIFE,AS SHE IS AN AVID ITALIAN RECIPE LOVER,AND SHE HAS PREPARED SOME GREAT DISHES FROM IT.WE ALSO USE THE PRODUCTS FROM RAOS,AND THEY ARE BY FAR THE BEST.WE RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WISHING A GREAT ITALIAN EXPERIENCE.

This book and "Rao's Recipes from the Neighborhood" complements each other quite nicely. From a glance I notice there are not as many overlapping recipes between the two books that others imply - a few more traditional "red sauce" fares, and perhaps more recipes that are served in restaurant settings, while "Rao's Recipes from the Neighborhood" feels "newer" fares to me. This book covers pretty much what a typical Americanized Italian restaurant in New York's Little Italy circa 1957 would offer, such as meatballs in a sauce Mariana, veal permingino. If you are looking for a fancy dish offered in a posh restaurant in early 21st century Milan such as pheasant ravioli, the likes of Giorgio Locatelli's "Made In Italy" would be your choice instead. For a more authentic rendition of Italian cuisine in an emigrant/expatriate Italian community context, Mario Batali or Guy Grossi (Australia) offer good works.

I have read Lidia Bastianich's "Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen", but given that I myself already own The Rao's two cookbooks and a few works at the polar end of authentic Italian cuisine such as Mario Batali's works and Giorgio Loctaelli's "Made In Italy" and a couple of others, I think they have pretty much covered the grounds of Bastianich's book.

Loved the stories, pictures but most of all the excellent recipes. A real treasure

I had been wanting this cookbook for a very long time, but it was quite expensive to buy brand new in the bookstore. I found it on Amazon and it was half the price! I ordered it, it arrived quickly, and I'm quite pleased with it. The recipes are amazing and very easy to follow. Visually, it is a beautiful cookbook, great photos and I loved reading about the history of Rao's. The introduction was great!

Recipes are just great, just like my husband's family's from whom I learned to cook Italian. Not only do I own this book but I have also bought it for my daughters & for friends. AND, they buy for their families & friends. Recipes are simply explained & so many are just like Mama made. The end results are delicious meals that you will want to cook again and again. So buy the book and you'll be serving your family & friends meals that will delight them all.

I heard so many wonderful things about this book that I decided to order one for my friend. I gave it to him as a surprise Christmas gift and he was very pleased. He has tried most of the recipes and the meals are delicious. The book has lots of pictures, and the recipes are simple and easy to follow. You can find the ingredients at your local supermarket without any hassles. Every time I visit my friend, I see the book opened on the table or countertop and I know he's cooking something from there. This is one of the best purchases I ever made.

This book covers appetizers, soups & salads, pasta, risotto, chicken, meats, seafood, vegetables and sweets in an old-world, family style way. If you've ever had real Italian food, cooked by real Italians, you'll know within a few minutes of browsing this book that it's one of the best. From the marinara sauce to a mouth-watering Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta & Beans), from the Shrimp Scampi to the Steak Pizzaiola, this collection of recipes (and the excellent quality of printing) more than justifies the somewhat frightening cover price. Once you prepare and taste just a few of these recipes you'll find out that the jar sauce and green cardboard container of grated cheese in your cupboard have only one place where they belong: the trash can. Many thanks to the Rao family for passing these treasures on to us.

This book covers appetizers, soups & salads, pasta, risotto, chicken, meats, seafood, vegetables and sweets in an old-world, family style way. If you've ever had real Italian food, cooked by real Italians, you'll know within a few minutes of browsing this book that it's one of the best. From the marinara sauce to a mouth-watering Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta & Beans), from the Shrimp Scampi to the Steak Pizzaiola, this collection of recipes (and the excellent quality of printing) more than justifies the somewhat frightening cover price. Once you prepare and taste just a few of these recipes you'll find out that the jar sauce and green cardboard container of grated cheese in your cupboard have only one place where they belong: the trash can. Many thanks to the Rao family for passing these treasures on to us.

This was given to me as a gift by my co-workers about 6 years ago. I had made many of the recipies and although some were complicated, the end result was well worth the effort.

Having recently moved to Florida from NY, and now having a gourmet kitchen, my husband and I take great joy in cooking together. Since we can no longer experience some of the best Italian restaurants in the country, we have to make our own Italian specialties. We have used the book so often that the spine has broken and all the pages are loose, but we will not part with it. If I cannot preserve the old book, I will certainly buy a new one!

If you want to experience some of the best Italian cooking without actually going to Rao's, try this book.

I was so impressed by the rave reviews that I couldn't wait to buy this book. It was one of my biggest disappointments! The "recipe" for broiled veal chops is salt and pepper the veal and broil it. Likewise, the recipes for broiled pork chops and broiled steak are salt and pepper and broil. That's a recipe? The book is very heavy on veal and uses can after can of San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes which might be readily available in big cities but not in my world. Frankly - there was nothing here that seemed unusual or special. Save your money to actually fly to NYC to visit the restaurant. Aapparently being "exclusive" makes up for simplisitic non-recipe recipes.

I was so impressed by the rave reviews that I couldn't wait to buy this book. It was one of my biggest disappointments! The "recipe" for broiled veal chops is salt and pepper the veal and broil it. Likewise, the recipes for broiled pork chops and broiled steak are salt and pepper and broil. That's a recipe? The book is very heavy on veal and uses can after can of San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes which might be readily available in big cities but not in my world. Frankly - there was nothing here that seemed unusual or special. Save your money to actually fly to NYC to visit the restaurant. Aapparently being "exclusive" makes up for simplisitic non-recipe recipes.

I received this book as a gift and use it constantly. The recipes are very simple and require few ingredients. My homestead is from New York and since we live in Colorado, I make food from the cookbook whenever he's homesick. Our staples are the marinara sauce, saltimbuca, chicken parm, stuffed shells and manicotti. Everything has turned out great.

I received this book as a gift and use it constantly. The recipes are very simple and require few ingredients. My homestead is from New York and since we live in Colorado, I make food from the cookbook whenever he's homesick. Our staples are the marinara sauce, saltimbuca, chicken parm, stuffed shells and manicotti. Everything has turned out great.

`Rao's Cookbook' by restaurateur / chef / actor Frank Pellegrino is the restaurant cookbook of what may be considered Manhattan's premier corner bar. The story is that the restaurant is only open five days a week, has but eight tables and each and every one of them is booked solid, like corporate boxes at the Astrodome. So, virtually the only way to get a sitting at Rao's is to be invited by a person with a permanent table reservation, or have such a benefactor lend you their reservation or, for a single evening, have the table revert to the discretion of Rao's matre'd.

The attraction of Rao's is not the same as that for Mario Batali's `Babbo' down in the village. Rao has no celebrity chef and its cuisine is simple Italian-American fare. There are no pilgrimages to the Union Square market for superfresh artisinal provisions. All their goods are bought at local shops in what is left of `Little Italy North' on the corner of Pleasant Avenue and 113th street in East Harlem.

This book is much more a celebration of place and of a very simple cuisine than it is any attempt at haute cuisine. At less than 180 pages of text, with lots of those pages taken up by Rao family snapshots, the book lists for a hefty $40, possibly to support the stipend to Dick Schapp and Nicholas Pileggi, who contributed a Preface and an Introduction respectively.

As chance would have it, I reviewed author Pellegrino's newer book before opening this volume, and I discover that there is a lot of overlap in the titles of recipes between the two books. That may not be an entirely bad thing for owning the two volumes, as the earlier one presents restaurant recipes while the later book presents personal `Italian-American' cuisine. This means that the earlier book's recipes may be more elaborate, but in general they are not. There are some few differences in the way a lot of the recipes are written, but few of these differences are likely to make a big difference in taste. Both books share the same attention to simplicity and the same pantry. Both books, for example, consistently use canned San Marsano tomatoes in all recipes. The restaurant book does make a point of manually removing any hard flesh in the tomato while mashing up its pulp. There are also instructions with several recipes on how to prep a dish so that it is ready to be served after just a last minute saute.

The recipe chapter's names are virtually identical to the newer `Neighborhood' book. In general, the newer book is much more consistent in its presentation of an English dish title with an Italian subtitle. The `Neighborhood' book is also much better in consistently providing captions for all photographs, contemporary or historical. I would also rate the recipes in this book a bit better than Rocco DiSprito's latest effort, and equal to recipes in John Mariani's excellent book on Italian-American cuisine and recipes. Neither book's recipes are quite as good as Lydia Bastianich's much longer book on Italian-American cuisine.

The numerous quotes sprinkled throughout the book range from cute to interesting, and contribute nothing to the culinary value of the book. The selection of desserts is nothing special. The ultimate reason for buying this book may be to taste the dishes you simply cannot get from Rao, because it is impossible to get a table there.

I am happy to have read this book and I will refer to it and its partner, the `Neighborhood' book when I am looking for good, simple, pasta or chicken recipes, but I will continue to rely on Hazan, Bastianich, and other professional writers for my staple source of Italian recipes.

This is a good book of recipes, albeit a bit overpriced. If you need to choose, I recommend the newer book, as it has more recipes and less fluff for the same price. If the discount is deeper on this earlier book, get it instead.

Recommended source for good Italian-American recipes and southern Italian sentiments.

`Rao's Cookbook' by restaurateur / chef / actor Frank Pellegrino is the restaurant cookbook of what may be considered Manhattan's premier corner bar. The story is that the restaurant is only open five days a week, has but eight tables and each and every one of them is booked solid, like corporate boxes at the Astrodome. So, virtually the only way to get a sitting at Rao's is to be invited by a person with a permanent table reservation, or have such a benefactor lend you their reservation or, for a single evening, have the table revert to the discretion of Rao's matre'd.

The attraction of Rao's is not the same as that for Mario Batali's `Babbo' down in the village. Rao has no celebrity chef and its cuisine is simple Italian-American fare. There are no pilgrimages to the Union Square market for superfresh artisinal provisions. All their goods are bought at local shops in what is left of `Little Italy North' on the corner of Pleasant Avenue and 113th street in East Harlem.

This book is much more a celebration of place and of a very simple cuisine than it is any attempt at haute cuisine. At less than 180 pages of text, with lots of those pages taken up by Rao family snapshots, the book lists for a hefty $40, possibly to support the stipend to Dick Schapp and Nicholas Pileggi, who contributed a Preface and an Introduction respectively.

As chance would have it, I reviewed author Pellegrino's newer book before opening this volume, and I discover that there is a lot of overlap in the titles of recipes between the two books. That may not be an entirely bad thing for owning the two volumes, as the earlier one presents restaurant recipes while the later book presents personal `Italian-American' cuisine. This means that the earlier book's recipes may be more elaborate, but in general they are not. There are some few differences in the way a lot of the recipes are written, but few of these differences are likely to make a big difference in taste. Both books share the same attention to simplicity and the same pantry. Both books, for example, consistently use canned San Marsano tomatoes in all recipes. The restaurant book does make a point of manually removing any hard flesh in the tomato while mashing up its pulp. There are also instructions with several recipes on how to prep a dish so that it is ready to be served after just a last minute saute.

The recipe chapter's names are virtually identical to the newer `Neighborhood' book. In general, the newer book is much more consistent in its presentation of an English dish title with an Italian subtitle. The `Neighborhood' book is also much better in consistently providing captions for all photographs, contemporary or historical. I would also rate the recipes in this book a bit better than Rocco DiSprito's latest effort, and equal to recipes in John Mariani's excellent book on Italian-American cuisine and recipes. Neither book's recipes are quite as good as Lydia Bastianich's much longer book on Italian-American cuisine.

The numerous quotes sprinkled throughout the book range from cute to interesting, and contribute nothing to the culinary value of the book. The selection of desserts is nothing special. The ultimate reason for buying this book may be to taste the dishes you simply cannot get from Rao, because it is impossible to get a table there.

I am happy to have read this book and I will refer to it and its partner, the `Neighborhood' book when I am looking for good, simple, pasta or chicken recipes, but I will continue to rely on Hazan, Bastianich, and other professional writers for my staple source of Italian recipes.

This is a good book of recipes, albeit a bit overpriced. If you need to choose, I recommend the newer book, as it has more recipes and less fluff for the same price. If the discount is deeper on this earlier book, get it instead.

Recommended source for good Italian-American recipes and southern Italian sentiments.

This is, by far, the best Italian cook book available. Of course, no one can make sauce (we never called it gravy) like my mother; I can't even duplicate it. Suprisingly, Rao's recipe comes very close to my mothers.

There are two recipes that I especially enjoy very much. And, I have prepared them more than a dozen times each: Rao's Famous Lemon Chicken and Osso Buco. Once in a while I substitute chicken thighs for the veal shanks. The Lemon Chicken is like nothing I've ever had before and the Osso Buco on a bed of risotto is to die for.

I'd give anything to dine at Rao's just once!

That's all I have to say to make this cookbook worth the purchase. Lemon Chicken. I'm trying the Amaretti tomorrow.

I must have 40 cookbooks, and I hardly ever use the ones written by even the best restaurant chefs. They usually demand too many wierd unavailable ingredients, take too much time, are too fussy about details, and often don't work particularly well. That's just my personal pet peeve. THIS cookbook is the exception to that rule. The recipes are a beautiful example of what makes italian cooking great, a few very nice ingredients, put together simply, in a delicious and creative way. This is classic family-style italian, done in an irresistibly delicious way. The recipes generally use a few basic ingredients, and are both easy to execute and well laid-out. Nearly everything I've cooked from the book has been at least very good, and some things have been outstanding. Usually, I'm pretty impressed if more than half the recipes are any good. I cook from this book on WEEKDAYS, for heaven's sake. This is easily in my top 3. Favorites include lemon chicken (yum)!, chicken cacciatore, veal marsala, meatballs, marinara sauce. As a final added attraction, there are anecdotes throughout the book, by folks from customers including Dick Schaap and Billy Crystal, among many others. This is a cookbook that's even fun to read!

When building your library of essentials, count this cookbook as one of the corner pieces of the puzzle. The simplicity of the recipes and the list of ingredients will tantalize your tastebuds along with the beautiful photographs. You'll also be sharing the classic marinara recipe with everyone who says, "I've GOT to have the recipe for this sauce!" You won't believe the flavor of this sauce and you'll make tons of it! It freezes well, too. I've had the book for over two years now and no recipe in it has been a disappointment.

I have been in love with good food and wine all my life.
Frank's book is a must have! The braciole browed in olive oil and garlic then simmered in the Sunday Gravy as it cooks...then homemade manicotti stuffed with ricotta and spinanch. A layer of the stuffed manicotti,a layer of braciole,a layer of Sunday gravy...until all is used. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes....WOW

I've not bought the book but I definitely will. I'm overseas now but it's on my TTD (things to do) list when I return to the 48. Why am I rating this cookbook a 5 without seeing it for myself? Allow me to explain: I bought four of Rao's bottled sauces at a Wild Oats store failing to notice the price (rather spendy) sauces for when I absolutely have NO time to make it homemade. The sauce is absolutely phenomenal!! I wanted to immediately stock up so I returned to Wild Oats and this time took notice of the price for each jar. Did I make a scene?, did I shove the jars back? No way!!, the sauces were worth every penny charged! So if their sauces are that phenomenal then I have no doubt that everything else in the cookbook is just as fantastic. A good cook is judged by his sauces as they're the base of his creations. A weak foundation and your dish collapses. I've seen Frank demonstrate some of his techniques on []nd I can already tell that they're worthy of many praises. I know I won't be disappointed. I've tried a "designer" bottled sauce by an Italian celebrity chef, nothing remarkable, neither was his book--great disappointments.

When I moved to the northeast and married a "yankee" I knew I had to add cooking real Italian to my repertoire of southern home-cooking...this book did it! Every recipe is totally straightforward and yields absolutely flawless results! I made gnocchi to rival our favorite restaurant in Little Italy! My husband calls the marinara (totally easy to make)and the meatballs(worth the effort) "magic" because they are so incredible. We are working our way through the recipes and are about halfway done and honestly not one dish has turned out so-so, they are all really very tasty and I can't stress enough how non-intimidating the recipes are. Tonight--chicken cacciatore!

I own over 100 Italian cookbooks! If you are going to own just one this is THE one to own. Recipes to die for. The stuffed veal chops, the meatballs! The beautiful simplicity and authenticity of these recipes is unsurpassed. One goal before I die, I must eat at Rao's, until then this book is the next best thing. Thank you Frank for sharing these family recipes. BUY THIS BOOK!

The first time I opened the book, my eyes were filled with tears. Recipes, photographs, vignettes, even poems...the whole magic of the book overwhelmed me with nostalgic memories of my New York Italian grandparents and relatives. The recipes are pure Italian soul food ... simple and satisfying. I have made several dishes - manicotti, lemon chicken, marinara sauce, to name a few. They all came out wonderful. Of course, like every Italian cook, I adjusted most of the recipes to my liking.. my own personal touches and that's what makes Rao's recipes so wonderful - so easy and roomy enough for you to make your own classics. I would like to add a comment about the other reviewer's (below) statement on Ralphie's in South Philly. It's a fine restaurant and I have their cookbook however I find the cookbook to be poorly written. For the Cream Cake recipe, it fails to give the size for the cake pan. Rao's Cookbook is very reliable...and it's a work of passion and magic.

That's according to some for whom I've prepared some of the entries in this book. And considering the ease with which I'm marching through it, they could be right. It's a great introduction to cooking Italian. I'm fairly proficient in other cuisines but have just recently fallen in love with Italian. This book practically takes you by the hand in its easy instruction. The basic dishes that seemed so exotic at various restaurants are easily mastered with this cookbook. If some entries don't pass over my stove, it won't be due to disinterest but to the lack of availability of some of the ingredients where I live. If you are interested in learning to cook some of the Italian classics, this book is a great place to start!

I have made more than half of the recipes in this wonderful cookbook and every one has been a winner. Growing up in an Italian family with my mother being a great cook, these recipes really hit home. My only hope is that someday I can eat at this famous restaurant and sample the food firsthand.

This is a great cookbook. A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT!!!!!!!

If you're looking to learn the basics of exquisite, yet simple Italian cooking, this is a great cookbook. The recipes are fantastic, and are very easy to prepare. Although I found the "celebrity" comments about Rao's quite annoying, you'll memorize most of the recipes fairly quickly and won't have to keep seeing ridiculously trite comments from wannabe socialites and celebrity remora. I realize the book is also a commemoration of the magic of Rao's, but you'll find Rao's is much more magical in your own dining room.

MAKE YOUR RED SAUCE FOR THE WEEK AND YOU CAN CREATE A LARGE VARIETY OF ITALIAN SPECIALTIES. IF YOU WANT ITALIAN FOOD THIS IS THE CLOSEST THING TO VISITING ITALY! WE HAVE BOUGHT SEVERAL BOOKS FOR GIFTS!

You will probably want to plan on having company when you start trying out these recipes, because you will want all the world to know what a great cook you are.

This cookbook has made me look good so many times, I can't imagine living without it. Bless the inspired friend who gave it to me! The ingredients for the minestrone look simple enough, but the combination is rich and satisfying. Linguini with white or pink clam sauce comes out delectably (even cutting back some on the oil). Biscotti and cannolis (complete with shells) were a smash -- dishes I was fearful of attempting before, by the way. It's a cookbook I've come to trust implicitly. I can approach dishes I've never made with confidence that they will turn out successfully. In my experience few other cookbooks (maybe the first Moosewood volume) are so consistent.

Maybe the best testimony would be to say that the recipes have roundly impressed even my Italian partner and his family. Buon appetito!

Want to cook like an Italian American in an uncomplicated fashion. This is your guide. You're not Italian at all, well you can learn to cook that way easily with this well-written book. These are the recipes that my mom cooked for me when I was growing up. I never did get to have her record them, so this book is a great substition. They are not fancy. Just plain good Italian-American fare. You just want to sit around the table, eat, drink and have a wonderful time. Frank Pellegrino is a tribute to all Italian Americans, keeping our heritage alive and bring back some of the old neighborhood memories. Bet many of you never even heard of East Harlem or Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Buy it, give it to everyone you know, it is a terrific gift.