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In the SF Chron, they had a column of "rising star" chefs and their recipes. I grabbed one for a pork shoulder and put it aside as an "Oooo, want to try!" Eventually, I saw pork shoulder on sale and remembered the recipe so I gave it a shot.

It was a TON of work, but it's the kind of chopping, browing and simmer work that I quite enjoy when I have the time to spend all day in the kitchen. A few substitutions were necessary (I STILL don't know where to get faro but at least I didn't try to use spelt!) but it still turned out well, in my opinion. I will definitely make it again.

This is the only chef recipe I've ever tried, though, so my experience is limited. I'd probably try another, but anything that seems to fussy is right out.

That depends. I bought The French Laundry cookbook and had a good laugh; I'd never be able to recreate those recipes at home. However, I often cook from Sunday Suppers At Lucques, it's my favorite cookbook. I think it's quite approachable.

Insofar as making up a recipe you've tried at a restaurant v following a cookbook recipe....I rarely stick to recipes anyhow, so I kind of put both in the same category.

I think it has less to do with whether it's a famous chef's cookbook and more about the food you're cooking. If it's a pasta recipe (like the spicy broccoli and cauliflower pasta from the Zuni cookbook....yum), the chances of it turning out and looking presentable are higher than, say, the tuna tartar from The French Laundry cookbook.

My wife Chelsea loves to create restaurant style dishes and pastries at home while I, the chef, like to create very simple one-pot, one-pan type things at home.

One tip for trying to recreate a restaurant dish is to split it up into a couple of days. If you are a Top Chef fan you'll see how for many of their challenges they get to prepare as many ingredients as they can the night before and the next day concentrate on the details and execution. You can do the same at home. Do all of your shopping and prepping one day and the next day put everything together. This could make the process more enjoyable and relaxed.

Also, mis en place!

Honestly, it's my favorite part of cooking. Must be the OCD....

I've found it depends on the cookbook and, of course, the recipe as well. I've cooked a lot from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook and quite a few others I've got such as The Campanile Cookbook. Someone gave me The French Laundry Book and though most of it is daunting, I did make a lemon tart with a pine nut crust that was really lovely. The Last Course offers single recipes and then at the end shows how they plate them at the restaurant - usually far more desserts than I'm willing to make at once. I've cooked a ton from that book, though and everything has been really great so far.

I love to make restaurant recipes at home. It's a lot of work, but I enjoy the challenge and the chance to learn. I could never afford to eat meals at these kind of restaurants (some of my favorite cookbooks are Bouchon, Zuni, Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud, and Frank Stitt's Southern Table), not to mention the airfare and lodging necessary to even visit. But I can set aside some money for ingredients and time to try my hand at it.

Also, very high profile chefs ordinarily have top-notch collaborators, like Dorie Greenspan or Michael Ruhlman, so the directions are spot-on and very clear. So long as I've had the stamina, I've had a higher success rate with restaurant recipes than with more ordinary cookbooks, and I almost always learn something.

I also really love to take on pastry, especially Pierre Herme. Again, he's got a great writer working with him (Ms. Greenspan), and whatever I've tried, at all levels of complexity (he has some very simple sable recipes), has been revelatory.

Basically, I think working diligently, if occasionally, from a strong restaurant cookbook can do a lot to push a home cook's skills up a level. I can't wait to start on Alinea.

My main problem with famous chef/restaurant recipes is that they often forget that home cooks don't have a kitchenhand to do all the prep and wash all the dishes for them! So you end up with very fiddly recipes and every dish in the kitchen gets used. It ends up being more work than is usually worth it, for me.

I'm not a particularly skilled cook, but I collect cookbooks of all skill levels nonetheless. Restaurant books are often attractive to read because of the amusing stories and the pictures, but definitely some are far too complex, or simply not the sort of food you want to eat at home.

But I disagree with the initial premise of the post, because it depends a great deal on the chef, and on the type of book they're writing. The Chez Panisse books are quite accessible, and I have to agree with PennyPlastic about the ease of using Sunday Suppers at Lucques, which isn't exactly easy but is a joy to cook from and produces great results (and some things are decidedly simple).

it depends on the cookbook-

I find that restaurant cookbooks tend to have more expensive ingredients and more complicated recipes.

but then, there recipes are very well tested.

I find that as long as I carefully read through the recipe and give it plenty of time the first time, it's okay.

my favorite restaurant cookbook is "Real Food Daily"- from a vegan LA restaurant (they have wonderful mac and cheese, tempeh loaf, green bean casserole- it's my comfort food cookbook)

I want maximum flavour for a minimum of effort, and portion sizes that don't assume you'll be serving a 7 course menu, so I tend to stay away from cookbooks that look too "cheffy". Molecular gastronomy and miniscule works of art on oversized plates are not for me.

I don't want my guests to be complimenting the professional presentation and interesting combinations. I want them to be salivating from the lovely smells, and oohing and aaahing over the flavours :-9~~

speaking of insane chef recipes, has anyone seen the Alinea cookbook?
Yikes. I mean I guess that goes without saying, but it's like some kind of sick joke.

I think that if you've followed the directions and have an understanding of the techniques involved, if a recipe doesn't turn out it's because it's a bad recipe, not because you're a bad cook. Just ask Martha Stewart. Never met a recipe in any of her books that actually turns out and is good.

When it comes to recipes with multiple components or those that are really complex, I think the fact that restaurant kitchens do so much advance prep has a lot to do with it, because stuff has a chance to sit and develop flavor. Just think of all those elemental things like stocks that go into recipes and about how much better they get when they've been in your fridge for a few days.