Can a Great Chef's Cookbook Make You a Great Chef?

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From a piece on Slate...

Both Waxman's and Silverton's books provide reminders of why, even for the most skilled home cooks, restaurants can't really be beat: Their kitchens are equipped in inimitable ways. In his roast chicken recipe, Waxman glancingly acknowledges that he's suggesting the best alternative to Barbuto's wood-burning oven, which can reach temperatures above 700 degrees. Likewise, Silverton can't guide you to a pie precisely like those at Pizzeria Mozza, where she, too, avails herself of an intense heat home cooks wouldn't—and can't—broach.

I made the chicken in Italian, My Way, which cooks for 35 minutes at 450 degrees. I cheated. Waxman called for a sizzle platter, the metal plate chefs use to keep food hot. I chose a glass baking dish. He wanted me to cut up a whole chicken. I knew having a butcher quarter it for me would be a prudent insurance policy against the kind of injury I court whenever I do knife work. His recipe was sturdy enough to accommodate such tinkering. The bird came through tender and moist.

And if the skin wasn't Barbuto-crisp, well, the salsa verde Waxman often serves at his restaurant compensated. In Italian, My Way, he recommends a mortar and pestle; after a few messy minutes, I resorted to a food processor. The results might have been a little too pesto-smooth, but the anchovy, caper and herb flavors were all there, and wonderful.