Signature Dishes: 50 Chefs Share Their Secret Recipe

"When a great cook and a life long foodie finds the best recipes from her inner circle, you know you've got a treasure. Valentina is just such a great cook and this book is a remarkable assembly of exceptional and hard-to-find recipes that will transform anyone's humble kitchen. Run, don't walk!"—MAX RYAN, Founder and CEO of Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn

No one is prepared for the loss of a child. No one. It feels completely unnatural for children to predecease their parents. Although it is not widely known, each year there are over 135,000 under 40-year-old deaths in the U.S. alone. And, according to one study, 19% of parents outlive their children—often carrying the weight of horrendous grief to their own graves.

America's chefs and cooks have reveled in serving meals to their customers since this country's early beginnings, creating their own recipes based on available ingredients, creativity, or at the request of others. Some took humble home recipes and made them into their signature specialties, many of which have become synonymous with certain hotels and restaurants in America.