Four outstanding independently published cookbooks worth your attention

Independently published cookbooks offer authors greater control over their work and the publishing process. This approach allows creators to maintain creative control, retain more rights, and potentially earn higher royalties. While traditional publishing provides wider distribution networks, self-publishing has become an increasingly viable option for culinary authors.

We love our cookbook publishers and work closely with them to promote their titles. However, we often miss independently published books until weeks or even months after their release. Today, I want to highlight four exceptional books that deserve your attention. The titles below can be ordered through our BUY BOOK button. I have shared the ordering link and look inside features at the end of each review.

James Beard Award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen recently released his second self-published book The Synergy Series (At Home was his debut cookbook). This remarkable volume offers unprecedented access to the personal stories, philosophies, and recipes of 25 of America’s most influential chefs.

The book emerges from an innovative dinner series with the same name, which the chef launched in 2016 at his Minneapolis restaurant Spoon and Stable. In the past decade, the dinner series has raised over $300,000 for a variety of local and national charitable causes. Through stunning photography, intimate narratives, and distinctive recipes, the book aims to inspire culinary professionals and food enthusiasts while supporting the next generation of cooks in America.

Filled with the menus featured in the series of dinners, chef bios and myriad photographs of the preparation and finished dishes, this is a spectacular book. Recipes include Avocado, sushi rice, salt cod cream, cilantro from Ludovic Lefebvre; Banana tacos from Daniela Soto-Innes; and Michael Solomonov’s Chicken kataifi schnitzel. Other chefs featured include Thomas Keller, Michael Anthony, April Bloomfield,  Dominique Crenn, Daniel Boulud, Grant Achatz, Mei Lin (Winner of Season 12 of Top Chef) and many more.

There are fourteen online recipes of Gavin Kaysen’s in our Library from various books, blogs and magazines. You may buy this book or At Home here.

The award-winning chef is also an advocate for the culinary profession. He is the founder of Soigné Hospitality Group, a nationally recognized group of restaurants in the Minneapolis metropolitan area including the aforementioned Spoon and Stable, a 2015 James Beard Award Finalist for Best New Restaurant; Demi, an intimate 20-seat tasting menu experience; and Mara at Four Seasons Minneapolis. Gavin was also at the helm of Bellecour Bakery at Cooks of Crocus Hill. They have parted ways but he plans to open Bellecour 3.0 this fall in Edina and the North Loop.

Beyond his restaurants, he is also the co-founder of Heart of the House Foundation, a non-profit organization created to sustain the growth, health, and prosperity of the Soigné Hospitality family now and in the future. He supports the next generation of young culinarians refine their skills as one of the founding mentors of the nonprofit Ment’or BKB Foundation (formerly Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation), for which he currently serves as President of Team USA. Kaysen is the proud recipient of two James Beard Awards: Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2008, and Best Chef: Midwest in 2018.

Burnt Ends by Dave Pynt shares the culinary secrets of the Burnt Ends Restaurant on 368 pages of smoking hot kitchen magic. Get ready to dive deep into the wizardry that is Pynt, meet the cool people behind the scenes, soak up the crazy party vibes, and even catch a scent of that smoky goodness that’ll leave you buzzing with inspiration.

Every page is a work of art with vivid photography. The recipes are all nestled in the rear of the book and include dishes from a S’mores tart to Lamb rack, chanterelles and smoked bean puree. Other examples of what you will find here include Coffee-roasted venison, Turbot, tzatziki and za’atar and Bone marrow and shallot tarte tatin.

If Pynt is as wild and amazing as his book, I want to go to Singapore and meet him. This is a book that will blow your mind and start a fire in your cook’s soul. I found one online recipe from the book and added it to our Library: Leeks, hazelnut & brown butter. You may order the book here where a look inside is also featured.

Founded by Chef-Owner Dave Pynt, Burnt Ends is a modern barbecue restaurant in Singapore’s Dempsey Hill serving modern Australian barbecue and boutique wines and spirits in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. At the heart of this modern barbecue restaurant is an open kitchen concept with a custom four-tonne, dual cavity oven, and four elevation grills. The restaurant writes new menus daily and believes that there is magic that comes from cooking with wood. Burnt Ends has held its One-Michelin star since first awarded in 2018. The restaurant is currently ranked #93 on the 2025 San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants List and #38 on the 2025 San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants List.

Mumbai – A Journey Through Its Kitchens, Streets, and Stories by Sri Bodanapu is a beautifully crafted coffee table book* which offers readers a journey into the city’s vibrant food culture and contemporary dining scene. From the bustling street side vada pav stalls to the refined elegance of the city’s finest restaurants, this stunning book weaves together narratives of tradition, innovation and the rituals that define how the city eats, cooks and remembers.

*Coffee table book is not an appropriate description of this title. It is far more than a coffee table book – it is an adventure to India packed with food, recipes and vignettes of people, food history.

Mumbai delivers a culinary history of Mumbai including “eating out in 19th century Bombay” and the “first dining out boom”, a section on foraging, many recipes with stunning photography of food, places and people and lovely illustrations. A sample of recipes that are shared here include Kolbi Atavni (a traditional, spicy, thick curry of prawns), East Indian pork tope (named after the vessel it is cooked in) and Aani Ji Bhaji (a vegetarian version of fish roe pakoda curry).

You may order the book here where there is also a small look inside.

Vaishnavi (Sri) Bodanapu is a nutritionist and founder of the cookbook design company, Heirloom. She grew up in India, in a family obsessed with food and feeding people.

The London Plane Flower & Cookbook: Stories & Recipes by Katherine Anderson is a lovely tribute to Seattle’s now shuttered The London Plane. For ten years (2013-2022), The London Plane anchored a corner in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square, welcoming both locals and visitors from afar.

This book reflects a community of cooks, bakers, florists, servers, and beloved customers. Filled with stunning photographs, floral information, comforting recipes and more, the title will bring joy to those who have visited this establishment in the past and those who have not. Recipes include Salt-preserved cherry blossoms, Rose and orange blossom meringues, Green eggs and ham tartine, Walnut thumbprints with lemon curd and Ricotta plum cake. I am finding great inspiration in this book and find myself marking dozens of recipes to make. You may order the book here where there is also a look inside. We added one online recipe here: Pavlova with fruit and infused cream.

Katherine Anderson is now a co-owner of Marigold and Mint Botanicals which was born out of her first flower shop, where she met illustrator/florist Isvald Klingels and designer Christian Petersen. Together they created a line of candles with custom scents inspired by the Marigold and Mint organic farm, create arrangements for weddings and special occasions and offer classes in the art of putting together a beautiful floral bouquet.