The Best Bay Area Cookbooks To Buy Now

If you're anything like us, you're perpetually scratching your head over the perfect gift...be it for a hostess or birthday girl. Luckily, we've got two words that'll solve your conundrum 99% of the time: local cookbooks. Yep, there's no question that the Bay is tops when it comes to inventive chefs and the foodie culture that supports them, and there's a bevy of at-home cooks who are just itching to try their hand at whipping up some farm-to-table amazingness at their own casas.

Which is why these 20+ cookbooks (some brand-spankin'-new), all with a hyper-local, Bay Area bent, need to be on your — and your friends' — bookshelves, asap. From attempting to craft a crusty loaf à la Tartine Bakery or recreating the ice-cream wonders from Bi-Rite Creamery and Humphry Slocombe, we've got a gaggle of recipe tomes that'll have you impressing in the kitchen in no time. Seriously...who needs takeout?