Cookbook Talk: Hillary Sterling presents AMMAZZA!

The long-awaited cookbook from four-time James Beard Award nominee Chef Hillary Sterling, featuring over 100 seasonal recipes showcasing the delicious dishes that have earned her acclaim at the helm of Ci Siamo, Danny Meyer’s “flat-out fantastic” (The New York Times) restaurant. A celebration of a life devoted to food, Ammazza! blends story, substance, and soul. Raised in a tight-knit Jewish household in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn—where her grandmother kept kosher downstairs and her family broke the rules upstairs—Sterling shares over 100 recipes that trace her path from her early days as a young cook, to her later love affair with Italian cooking, and her career spent in the kitchens of New York’s most beloved restaurants. Following the rhythm of the seasons, these recipes showcase Sterling’s brilliance with flavor. Interspersed are menus rooted in family and tradition, with inspired twists—she brings an Italian spin to the Passover table, and shares a Mexican Thanksgiving feast influenced by her time at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. A standout cookbook for home cooks, Ammazza! offers smart, encouraging tips throughout—from how to clean artichokes to frying at home without fear. Whether you’re searching for the best pasta cookbook, a gift for foodies, or a coffee table cookbook as beautiful as it is practical, Ammazza! is packed with bold recipes, culinary storytelling, and the know-how of a chef who cooks with both precision and heart.