Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin

Anybody who falls in love with Shopsin's from Tamara's book (see above) will, naturally, want to turn to this ten-year-old cookbook, designed by Tamara but written by Papa Shopsin himself, the foul-mouthed iconoclast who presides over its immense hodgepodge of a menu as an arbitrary, autocratic, loving ruler. Eat Me has a hundred recipes, including diner standards as well as Shopsin's weirdo combos (e.g. Mac n Cheese Pancakes) that may, in fact, be delicious. But there's even more philosophy than food inside, about how to cook for people, how not to cook for people you don't want in your restaurant, and how to run a small business (and keep it small). It's wonderful.