[W.DeBord]

Isaac I'm a big fan of his, I have all 4 of his books, the last two aren't nearly as clever as his first 2. Either "Death by Chocolate" or "Desserts to Die For" are good solid buys. I think his books probably had the biggest impact on me as a pastry chef than any other books I can think of. I knew how to bake and decorate but I was only following dirrections. When I began working thru his books I was amazed at how he works his recipes. He breaks "rules" and does seeming crazy stuff and it works great everytime!

I'm not crazy about his cake recipes. I think they tend to be too dry (so I sub in my own) but his mousses (the simplity of them is wild) and the way he assembles desserts was really different than I've ever seen published. I had never dared think about layering and combining as freely before I saw him do it. He's inspired me to give up leaning on books by following their proceedures to the letter.

Once upon a time I was a slave to a recipe. I'd have to make each component exactly as the recipe called for. Well that's not easy when your short on time. So I borrowed his mentality and figured out how to use up all my scraps into the next torte and so on, where as before I'd have waste that I didn't want to throw out but I didn't have any use for.

I would put his books high on my list of pastry books. Maybe it was the right timing, but his books were the learning curve for me. I look at desserts differently due to him.