New Book from UVU Culinary Arts, Art & Design Will Leave You Saying ‘J’Adore’ |

J’adore is a French word that expresses love, admiration, and respect. It is also the name
of the award-winning book published by Utah Valley University’s Culinary Arts Institute
and Department of Art & Design.

The book was created out of respect for a program that has churned out award-winning
chefs for more than 30 years, love for fine food and education, and hope that it will
fund scholarships for students who would like to become part of UVU’s culinary arts
and art and design tradition.

“UVU is the best university in the entire universe. Best food, best cooperative experiences,
best engagement — we rock, and here’s a little bite of our legacy,” said Chef Todd
Leonard, certified executive chef at UVU and creator of “J’Adore.” “Those people who
have eaten our food and come to UVU will appreciate this book, because they know.”

Chef Todd says they will know that nothing was held back — and it’s not often that
a chef’s secret recipes are given so freely. Still, “J’Adore” is chock-full of exquisite
and popular dishes, from appetizers, bread, and soups to mouth-watering entrees, breakfast
dishes, and impossible-to-resist desserts.

The 264-page, coffee-table-sized book also includes photos of every dish. The images
were painstakingly created by Travis Lovell, UVU photography instructor and department
chair for art and design. He envisioned the project as a way to do something different
with his students. With the assistance of his department, they created something extraordinary.

“John Reese is one of the photography faculty, and he teaches our lighting classes,
so they would schedule their advanced lighting class with Chef Todd, and Chef Todd
would cook the dishes, and then students would photograph them,” Lovell said.

The photographs and recipes were then given to a graphic design class, who came up
with the initial designs for “J’Adore.”  

Lovell entered the completed book in an international book awards competition for
independent publishers. “We love it. We think it’s incredible,” Lovell said — and
the judges agreed. Thousands of titles from more than 2,000 publishers were submitted
for consideration, but “J’Adore” was beloved. It received gold medals in the Cookbooks—General
category and for its cover design.

Lovell said the awards validate the efforts and ideas of the creators of “J’Adore.”
He said the recognition also empowers students.

“It gives confidence to everyone that they are competitive with other industry professionals.
They have the skills to go out, create, and succeed right away,” said Lovell, who
has been creating books with students since 2014. “It is also heartening that we were
able to make a huge departure from our previous projects in creating a cookbook and
still produce an award-winning product.”

Another UVU Art & Design work, “Grimm Gestalt,” also won a Bronze Medal in the Coffee Table Books category.

All proceeds from “J’Adore” will be put towards the cost of creating the book, and
whatever funds remain will fund scholarships. You can find the award-winning cookbook
at the UVU Campus Store, Orson Gigi, and TRUreligion Pancake and Steakhouse. Bon appétit!

https://www.uvu.edu/news/2022/05/2022_05_18_j_adore_book.html