Fashion

9 of the Best Cookbooks For Beginners, From Pasta to Pastries

Looking for easy recipe suggestions? Vogue editors share the best cookbooks for beginners that they use time and time again….

-Chloe Schama, Senior Editor

The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen

Simply by Sabrina Ghayour

“As a big Ottolenghi fan—but someone too lazy to make his more elaborate dishes on a regular basis—I was obsessed with Sabrina Ghayour’s first cookbook, Persiana, which explores a similarly eclectic mix of Eastern Mediterranean cuisines but using a more easily accessible range of ingredients. This summer I picked up her latest book, Simply, which offers even speedier weeknight takes riffing on Ghayour’s largely Iranian-inspired flavors: I love the chorizo and goat’s cheese borek and the falafel recipe, both of which are super quick to whip up and make for obscenely delicious next-day leftovers too.”

-Liam Hess, Contributing Writer

What to Bake and How to Bake It by Jane Hornby

“I’m an enthusiastic baker, but a bad one—I basically need subtitles to watch the Great British Bake Off. (Feathering, tempering, proving—what?) So thank goodness for What to Bake and How to Bake It, which is part recipes, part teaching manual, and overall, one of the best cookbooks for beginners. I’ll be on my way to ‘Star Baker’ in no time.”

-Elise Taylor, Living Writer

What to Bake and How to Bake It

$35

PHAIDON

Pasta Grannies by Vicki Bennison

“If you adhere to the true Pasta Granny method of making your dough and sauce on Sundays, the pasta dishes in the Grannies’ cookbook are pretty easy to whip up on a weeknight—and far more delicious than any box pasta you could ever make. I think the easiest pasta shapes are probably the ones you can make with only your hands or small tools like cavatelli, orecchiette, corzetti, instead of rolling out the dough for noodles, but that’s just my take. Even if you don’t spring for the cookbook, the Grannies have a great YouTube channel too where they walk through their signature dishes. It’s a total joy to watch and cook along.”

-Steff Yotka, Fashion News Editor

Pasta Grannies

East by Meera Sodha

“My mom gave this cookbook to my boyfriend for Christmas, and we’ve promptly made three of its recipes in a row. It features vegetarian dishes inspired by a variety of Asian cuisines, with the perfect balance of easy recipes and more intimidating ones I’m excited to try on a weekend. Categories include noodles, curries, rice, and tofu, plus a section on condiments so you can learn how to DIY pickled ginger and Sichuan chile oil. The asparagus and snow peas with chile peanut crumbs is a great starting point, with shiitake pho as a quick follow-up. I’m saving the four-ingredient ‘Breakfast at Shuko’s’ udon noodle dish for New York’s next rainy day.”

-Ella Riley-Adams, Senior Living and Beauty Editor

East

$32

BOOKSHOP

Cravings by Chrissy Teigen

“One of my favorite cookbooks is Cravings by Chrissy Teigen. I love to infuse Asian recipes into my cooking, but often the ingredients list is too lengthy or the steps are too convoluted. She allows me to indulge in my favorite dishes with ease. One dish I’ve been making a lot lately is her Asian Chicken Salad dish served with fresh crispy wonton strips and a homemade dressing.”

-Julie Tong, Senior Commerce Editor

The Balthazar Cookbook by Keith McNally, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson

“I’d hardly call the Balthazar cookbook an easy cookbook, but somehow, it’s become my go-to—even despite being an amateur in the kitchen. Since I love baking way more than cooking, I can attest to the desserts in particular: the creme brulée is always a hit when I make it. (And I’ve been making it a lot.) Next up, I’m determined to try out the Koulibiac recipe, an old-fashioned dish with layered salmon wrapped in a puff pastry. (Salivating yet?) I’ll need a sous-chef to even attempt it, though.”

-Christian Allaire, Fashion Writer

The Balthazar Cookbook

$38

BARNES AND NOBLE

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Entertainment

A$AP Rocky Turned An Entire Manchester City Kit Into His Album Rollout

Photo: DannyB Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

A$AP Rocky doesn’t do album rollouts quietly, and this one recruited an entire Premier League club to help. Manchester City, PUMA, and Rocky teamed up on a limited apparel run tied to “Don’t Be Dumb,” his 2026 album, timed around his September 5th show at Co-op Live.

The centerpiece is a long-sleeve PUMA King jersey in black and archive gold, with “DON’T BE DUMB” running down the sleeve and AWGE branding worked in throughout. A bold “MANCHESTER” graphic covers the back. Fans could also add limited “A$AP 11” name-and-number printing onto the club’s actual Home, Away, or Third kits, while supplies lasted at retail.

There’s a players-only version too, and it never went up for sale. That one sticks closer to City’s usual sky-blue identity, with its own sleeve detailing and back graphic — the kind of piece that exists purely because a handful of people got lucky.

The whole rollout kicked off with a one-night pop-up on September 4th, when PUMA turned a spot in Manchester’s Northern Quarter into a pop-up cafe for the night, mixing football, music, and street style into one room before the wider release hit the stadium store the next morning. Some of those jerseys even came with golden tickets to the concert or that Saturday’s match.

Rocky has called the project true to his own design language, and it’s not even his only club collaboration this cycle — a similar drop with AC Milan landed around the same time. At this point, the line between fashion week and matchday has basically disappeared.

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Entertainment

Quavo And Lids Are Going All In On Atlanta With Their New Cap Pack

Photo: Finish Line / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Quavo has never been shy about his hat obsession, and Lids just gave him another outlet for it. Their new “Atlanta” pack drops September 12th, marking another round in a partnership that’s been running strong since 2019.

The collection is a love letter to the city, spread across three very different caps. One mashes up pinstripes, script lettering, and Braves branding into a single design, working navy, red, white, and light blue into the mix. Another goes the opposite direction entirely — fully iced out in crystal detailing, done up in black and red, with both the Falcons and the Braves showing up in the design. The third strips things back to an old-school “ATL” trucker cap in red, white, and gold, the kind of understated piece that lets the city’s name do the talking.

None of this is new territory for Quavo. He’s talked before about waiting on hat releases as a kid, and that same excitement seems to be what’s kept this partnership going years past most celebrity collabs. His earlier Lids run leaned on one moment — the Braves’ 1995 World Series win — but this pack pulls from the city’s whole sports history instead of just one highlight.

Lids has called Quavo one of the rare voices who can blend music, fashion, and sports without it feeling forced, and this drop backs that up. Given how fast his past releases have moved, Atlanta might want to set an alarm for September 12th.

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