Biographical note:

ALAN JACKSON's mini-chain of Lemonade cafes are taking Los Angeles by storm. Five years ago, Jackson left the fine-dining scene to open the fast-casual restaurant Lemonade in West Hollywood; it was so successful, he opened eight additional locations, with more to come. Alan has had a love affair with food and creating memorable meals in Los Angeles since the mid-90s, when he opened Jackson's and The Farm in Beverly Hills. Alan lives with his family in L.A.

JOANN CIANCIULLI has written nearly a dozen cookbooks, most recently the acclaimed L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook and Recipe Rehab. As a culinary producer, her television credits include Top Chef, Master Chef, Recipe Rehab, and The Next Iron Chef. She lives in L.A.

Main description:

The Lemonade Cookbook takes the bold flavors, imaginative dishes, and southern California lifestyle that have made the brand an instant hit and captures them in a fresh, beautifully-designed, full-color book. Like Los Angeles, Lemonade's cuisine is carefully blended with variety. L.A. is agents and movie grips, surfers and yoga moms, students and celebrities, and a wide mix of different culinary traditions. At Lemonade the marketplace salads, unique sandwiches, and slow-simmered stews taste as though every culture stirred a bit into the pot—for example, the skirt steak with grilled onions and piquillo peppers with its smoky depth, pairs perfectly with the snappy salad of Chinese long beans, plums, and scallion vinaigrette.

A comfortable place where locals and visitors enjoy a rotating daily spread of deliciousness, the recipes, more than 120 in all, stress simple cooking preparation with a global taste, and are a perfect fit for today’s on-the-go lifestyles and perceptive palates. And, of course, it wouldn’t be L.A. without the amazing desserts—from banana mascarpone layer cake to caramel fleur de sel macaroons to peanut butter milk chocolate cookies, there are recipes for treats galore, plus ten different recipes for delicious flavors of lemonade. The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.'s Favorite Modern Cafeteria speaks to all cooks who want to make sophisticated highly-urban "comfort food" with ease.

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