Michel Richard Autograph

This Cookbook Village article from our signed cookbooks series spotlights the 5 most creative chef signatures we have had in our collection. Each of these chef signatures is as unique and interesting as the dishes they have inspired. Some are living, some have passed on... but their creativity lives on through their restaurants, their books and even their animated autographs.

Read on below to see each unique signature and a bit of background on the chef. Plus, we include the sale price / value of the signed cookbook shown.

Here's who made the list.

  1. Daniel Orr
  2. Michel Richard
  3. Raymond Oliver
  4. Louis Szathmary
  5. Frank Davis

Daniel Orr Real Food Signed Cookbook

1. Daniel Orr - Real Food Cookbook

Format: Hardcover and dust jacket, 176 pages 
Copyright: 1997
Author: Daniel Orr
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications Inc.
This signed cookbook sold for: $9.99  

Daniel Orr tops our list of creative chef's signatures. He manages to not only show a chef caricature, but also includes his name in the design. Wow.. I'd love to visit his restaurant in Illinois if that kind of creativity shines through in his dishes too. Chef Daniel Orr calls his cuisine "real food," the best of American food influenced by European training. Orr was chef at New York's French restaurant La Grenouille and executive chef at Sir Terence Conran's first US-based restaurant, Guastavino's in New York City. He also served as the executive chef at CuisinArt Resort & Spa in Anguilla, inspiring his current style of fusion island cuisine and Midwest American. Orr went on to open FARM in Bloomington, Indiana. FARM is a culinary complex with a market, restaurant, bar, crepe window and music venue.


Michel Richard Home Cooking with a French Accent Cookbook SIGNED

2. Michel Richard - Home Cooking with a French Accent

Format: Hardcover and dust jacket,  366 pages
Copyright: 1993
Author: Michel Richard Publisher: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
This signed cookbook sold for: $9.25 

This caricature-style signature is that of Chef Michel Richard. His cuisine is French inspired. Richard owned the former Citrus restaurant located in Los Angeles California and Bistro M in San Francisco as well as several locations of Cirtronelle.  He currently owns Citronelle restaurant in Washington, D.C. as well as Central Michel Richard and Michel at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, Virginia. He has been the recipient of several prominent culinary awards and honors.


Raymond Olivier La Cuisine Cookbook SIGNED

3. Raymond Oliver - La Cuisine Cookbook

Format: Hardcover and dust jacket, 896 pages 
Copyright: 1969
Author: Raymond Oliver
Publisher: Tudor Publishing Company
This signed cookbook sold for: $17.99 

This interesting signature by Chef Raymond Oliver in his La Cuisine cookbook shows off the chef's originality. Oliver is considered one of the best chefs of all time. Born in 1909, Raymond Oliver was the son of an acclaimed chef Louis Oliver of the London Savoy. Raymond's presented fine French dishes at his Le Grand Vefour restaurant located under the arcades of the Palais Royal in Paris. The establishment is considered to be one of France's most historical restaurants. Oliver is familiar to millions in France from his television show as well. In short, this creative chef was a culinary legend and has the signature to go with it.


Louis Szathmary The Chef's Secret Cookbook - SIGNED

4. Louis Szathmary The Chef's Secret Cook Book

Format: Hardcover with dust jacket, 288 pages
Copyright:
1971
Author:
Louis Szathmary
Publisher:
Quadrangle Books
This signed cookbook sold for: $8.99

This is just one of the few signature styles of Louis Szathmary. Cookbook Village has seen other versions of his signature but each has his trademark chef with chef hat drawing included. Chef Louis Szathmary of Hungarian origin, was the chef and owner of The Bakery restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. The Chef's Secret Cook Book was on the New York Best Seller list for years. Szathmary is probably one of the country's biggest cookbook collectors ever. His several million dollar 400,000 item collection of books and memorabilia is housed at the Rhode Island-based Johnson & Wales University's culinary archives.


Frank Davis Cooks Cajun, Creole and Crecsent City Cookbook - SIGNED

5. Frank Davis Cooks Cajun, Creole, and Crescent City

Format: Hardcover with dust jacket, 303 pages
Copyright: 1994
Author: Frank Davis
Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
This signed cookbook sold for: $19.95

Cookbook Village had to include at least one signature with a drawing other than a chef. This signature by New Orleans celebrity chef Frank Davis fit the bill. His seafood inspired signature finishes off our list of the most creative signatures we've seen in our collection of signed cookbooks. Frank Davis is a chef, features editor, and cooking show host in New Orleans. Born and raised in Crescent City, Davis began cooking at age eight. He is the author of several cookbooks, host of TV cooking shows and has his own line of 14 pre-blended gourmet seasonings.

You can tell from the sale price of this book that the value of signed cookbooks is on the rise. The other books on this list were sold several years prior to this more recent purchase.