New American Table is a gorgeous, large format cookbook filled with lavish photography. There are not only sumptuous, color photos of many of the dishes, but also photos of markets, ingredients, people cooking and people eating. I had not heard of Marcus Samuelson but his recipes are unique, full of interesting and different flavors and flavor combinations.
I cooked three recipes from New American Table. Farro-Orange Salad was a hearty, filling salad with a well rounded flavor and texture. The combination of fennel, almonds and oranges was nice and I liked the accent of mint and basil. I couldn't find farro (anywhere!) so I used orzo instead. This highlights one of the problems I had with this cookbook - almost every recipe features exotic and difficult to find ingredients. Its a nice way to expose yourself to new foods, but read the recipes carefully ahead of time and make sure you can locate everything.

Spicy Braised Veal Shoulder was a beautiful, stew like dish with a delicious broth. The complex tastes came together nicely and this was a dish worthy of company. The veal was very tender and the mild spicy kick was perfect.
Granola Deluxe was my least favorite recipe. I didn't care for the overly sweet, grainy mexican chocolate and the nuts to oats ratio was off.
This would be a great cookbook for someone looking for some unusual tastes and a great introduction to new ingredients. ( )