Baco Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles (California Cookbook, Tex Mex Cookbook, Street Food Cookbook)

130 recipes that redefine the way we think about flavor.

Visually stunning and conceptually fresh, this is the cookbook of the season from Josef Centeno, the chef credited with capturing the myriad tastes of Los Angeles on the plate. Recipes span from simple to show stopping, exploring sauces, soups, mains, salads, and desserts, too. More than 130 vivid photographs convey the beauty and excitement of Chef Centeno's extraordinary cooking.

Josef Centeno is the chef and owner of Bäco Mercat, Bar Amá, Orsa & Winston, Ledlow, and P.Y.T. In Bäco, he draws on his multicultural heritage, formal training in top-notch restaurants such as Manresa and Daniel, a lifelong obsession with cookbooks, and his insatiable curiosity. Centeno's cooking layers textures and explores how spices and sauces can be used to transform the most basic vegetables.

Josef Centeno is a James Beard–nominated chef and owner of five restaurants in downtown Los Angeles: Bâco Mercat, Bar Amá, Orsa & Winston, Ledlow, and P.Y.T.

Betty Hallock is a food writer and former deputy editor of the Los Angeles Times food section. She and Josef live together in downtown Los Angeles with their two dogs.

Dylan James Ho and Jeni Afuso are Los Angeles–based food and lifestyle photographers.