Four new must-read travel books

Only a resort as historic and glamorous as Tuscany’s famed Il Pellicano could warrant a cookbook as elegantly art- and photography-filled as “Eating at Hotel Il Pellicano.” Just released by Violette Editions, the book includes some pretty hefty cultural bona fides: English novelist Will Self penned a preface, while iconic fashion photographer Juergen Teller is responsible for the color-rich photographs of chef Antonio Guida’s lavishly-detailed confections. The book, like Il Pellicano itself, offers the best of Tuscany’s epicurean bounty — only without the nine-hour plane ride.

Interlink Books, $30

 

Thanks to the near-ubiquity of food trucks and dining stands around the world, street food has been elevated from a culinary afterthought to true foodie front-runner. Now, the new book “New Middle Eastern Street Food,” by English author Sally Butcher, brings this still-evolving epicurean trend to vibrant new life through history, anecdotes and lots and lots of recipes. Focusing mainly on Middle Eastern snacks and street food, Butcher’s book features some 100 easy recipes that appeal to all ages, appetites and adventure levels. As both a seasoned author and owner of celebrated Persian grocer Persepolis in London, Bishop clearly knows her way around kebabs and mezzes. Now, via “Snackistan,” Bishop brings these rich traditions from the street to your home.

For almost a decade, London-based magazine Monocle has chronicled the designers, architects, hoteliers, industrialists and politicians who are making our world a better place. Now, Editor-in-Chief Tyler Brule and team have assembled their years of collective knowledge into a useful and actionable tome. Published in association with Gestalten, its 400-plus pages are a primer for sourcing the globe’s most innovative, independent — and independent-thinking — cultural and commercial creatives, developers and purveyors. While much of the book is dedicated to where and how to live, there’s also extensive data on how to travel. From the hotel with the world’s best view (Paris’ George V) to the best airline amenity kit (courtesy of Japanese carrier ANA) to the world’s top luggage (the classic flight trolley by Japanese brand Rimowa), Monocle’s travel intelligence is truly first class.

Clarkson Potter, $15.90

 

This is Travel + Leisure editor Luke Barr’s hunger-inducing love letter to both the idyllic French region of Provence and some its most iconic and accomplished culinary visitors. Set in the winter of 1970, the book chronicles the seminal — and singular — season when famed American chefs Julia Child, M.F.K. Fisher and James Beard found themselves in Provence at the very moment America’s nascent foodie culture was beginning to embrace its French counterpart. Pairing extensive archival research with humorous anecdotes and detailed interviews, Barr — Fisher’s grand-nephew — recreates the tastes, smells, passions and humor of this baguette-filled blip in time. At once a travelogue, historical document and foodie primer, the book helps readers understand the origins of nouvelle cuisine’s eventual American conquest.