House of Small Wonder: Authentic Japanese Recipes & Heartwarming Stories for Home Cooking & Entertaining | Perfect for Family Dinners & Dinner Parties

This beautifully designed book is self-published by the Brooklyn restaurant called House of Small Wonder and its sibling in Berlin. It’s thoughtful, interesting, and fully captures the fun and funky spirit of the establishments without a hint of pretense.

Shaul Margulies and Motoko Watanabe began House of Small Wonder as a side project of of a somewhat more traditional Japanese restaurant. It assumed a life and character of its own, offering a sort of all-day brunch, as one its street signs proclaims. The menu is an eclectic blend of Japanese and American cuisines that encompasses everything from scrambled egg sandwiches served on sliced croissants and udon carbonara to biscuits Benedict with wasabi Hollandaise sauce and roasted chicken legs with yuzi sauce. Some of the things that seem like fusion may actually be that, but they’re imported from Japan, such as Okinawan taco rice and a Japanese potato salad. There are desserts and drinks as well.

The book is vividly illustrated with photos not just of the food but of the restaurants and their neighborhood. The faux buckram binding is quite convincing and the intricate gold stamping takes in both the front and back covers, as well as the spine. Hardcover.

The restaurant has created a small initial printing of just 1,000 copies and we’re glad to have access to them for the time being.  If we are taking backorders for this book, we are confident of supplying copies from the initial printing. A second printing is contemplated but not assured.