Diana Henry tells of a restaurantcritic friend who wails, “Whatever happened to deliciousness?” Well, it’s right here, oozing off every page. The book is presented as a series of themed menus: the soul of Spain, a middleeastern feast, good things from Piedmont. Although Henry says that there are some practical rules about menus, don’t read this book just for how-to advice. Rather relax into Henry’s belief that, “There is poetry in menus… they are short stories.” It almost goes without saying that the recipes given by the award-winning food writer are winners, with the right ratio of comforting to intriguing with a dash of excitement. Delightful as those recipes are, what I will lap up are the bursts of reminiscences and anecdotes setting the scene for each menu. This book is about place, transporting you to a smoky afternoon by an autumn bonfire, or to lounge in a piazza on a sultry summer night. It’s a peach of a book.