Art and design aficionados are often spoiled for choice when it comes to exclusive publishing companies dedicated to printing exceptionally high-quality books with beautiful photos and illustrations. Like Taschen and Phaidon, publishing company Assouline knows how to print and bind stunning volumes that present a given subject in the best possible light. Its latest release, The Art of Manufacture: Alain Ducasse, is a stunning example of its publishing ethos, tackling the artistry behind chocolates and other desserts created by the iconic luxury brand Manufacture. 

Each entry in this complete volume features a comprehensive analysis of various chocolates, coffees, gelato, and biscuits, backed up by gorgeous photographs. Award-winning photographer Laziz Hamani fully appreciates the esthetic decisions that have gone into these highly prized culinary delicacies, framing them in a way that showcases the unique French craftsmanship that brings them to life. Throughout the three-hundred-page book, there are over two hundred illustrations that help to articulate the thought and passion that brings the carefully considered ingredients together.

Photographs showing various artisans at work recall the documentary photographers of yesteryear such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, albeit in vivid and striking colors. Combined with mouth-watering photographs of various chocolates, biscuits, and other treats, it’s a book that is guaranteed to get chocoholics salivating in seconds.

Beyond its obvious appeal for hardened foodies, The Art of Manufacture: Alain Ducasse represents a unique insight into an industry that brings the full weight of high-end artisan skills to bear.

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