A global celebration of the iconic restaurant dishes that defined the course of culinary history over the past 300 years

Today's food-lovers often travel the globe to enjoy the food of acclaimed chefs. Yet the tradition of seeking out unforgettable dining experiences goes back centuries, and this gorgeous book reveals the closely held secrets behind the world's most iconic recipes - dishes that put restaurants on the map, from 19thcentury fine dining and popular classics, to today's most innovative kitchens, both high-end and casual. Curated by experts and organized chronologically, it's both a landmark cookbook and a fascinating cultural history of dining out.

The narrative texts are by Christine Muhlke, the foreword by Mitchell Davis, and illustrations by Adriano Rampazzo

make a fire. fake a fire. roast your oysters. dance for pipis. slow it down. raise a toast. take lunch. grill a salad. bake a crab. step outside. burn your pav. pass the salt. eat with your hands. chew on the bone. Ester is an invitation to play with your food and enjoy the adventure. It's born of an eponymous restaurant in inner Sydney, but it's proudly not a restaurant book. Think of it more as the foundations for some new ideas in your kitchen and at your table; written to be used, shared, read aloud, perhaps burnt. Mat Lindsay's cooking resists easy labels. Certainly it's a distinct kind of full-flavoured Australian food: generous, mindfully chosen seafood; darkly caramelised wood-fired bread; vegetables cooked to just the right level of doneness; meat that's been treated with respect and, often, time; and the odd burnt pavlova, a true signature. Ester the restaurant is all about its wood-fired oven and the magic it imparts, but the fundamentals don't change at home, and everything in this book can be made delicious wherever you live. The ethos of Mat's acclaimed and widely beloved Chippendale restaurant has always been to offer guests a no-rules good time and the intention within these pages is just the same. Whether it prompts you to rethink the possibilities of toast, roast your fruit, try the classic cauliflower, or embrace Sunday lunch, the Ester playbook presents many ideas to cook and live by.