Jeff Scott releases third volume of ‘Notes From a Kitchen’
For those enrolled in a culinary academy, food photography might be the perfect coffee table book or place to draw inspiration. In general, cookbooks have become inundated with beautiful photographs, as those cooking at home want to be able to see what a dish will look like when it’s finished. Moreover, this gives the novice cook and established chef alike a visual point of reference. Although, for those who consider the culinary arts an integral part of their lifestyle, peeking into some of the most well-known kitchens in the country might be a dream come true. The photography collection, “Notes From a Kitchen,” by Jeff Scott, covers this exact subject matter. Scott sits in with some of the world’s renowned contemporary chefs, interviews them and observes them in their creative space. The result has been two volumes of remarkable culinary photographs, and now Scott has released the third, “Notes From a Kitchen, Volume 3: Part 1.”
The books
While it may seem peculiar to compile hundreds of pages of food quotes and photos without recipes, Scott believes his work focuses more on the creative culinary process itself.
In an interview with Eater regarding volumes 1 and 2, Scott explained, “There are a ton of recipe books. There wasn’t really a point to making one more recipe book, because there are just so many out there. So the idea here was: How do we tell a more engaging story about food?”
To create the first collection, Scott had to hang out with chefs incessantly. He spent a year with various culinary pros, recording conversations and taking 100,000 photographs. In 2012, the book series earned the photographer a James Beard Award. For volume 3, part 1, Scott documented the creative processes of chefs such as David Chang, Jordan Kahn, Julian Van Winkle, Vinny Dotolo, Dominique Crenn and Jenna Rozelle. Scott examines these chefs not necessarily by the food they create, but by the culinary journey that results in a food innovation or finished dish. For example, the section in which Scott photographs David Chang focuses on the Momofuku test kitchen, a secret lab where the chef has only allowed a total of five outsiders, according to Forbes.
The limited edition volume 3, part 1, is 768 pages and comes with a handmade slipcase cover. As a result, this novel coffee table book comes a steep price, costing $125 for U.S. residents and $160 for residents of Canada.
