Food: Dining for Dollars

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Chefs at this level must tread a fine line between accessibility and mystique; revealing the trick behind that perfect spit-roasted lobster, after all, is a bit like a magician's showing just where he hid that bunny. But the drive to commercialize is inevitable. "We're working so hard, it's about time we make money!" Vongerichten exclaims. The famously perfectionist Trotter--himself no slouch in the self-marketing department, with half a dozen books, a new line of sauces and, in January, knives to his name--agrees. "It wasn't so long ago that being a chef was a blue-collar occupation," he says. "Now you decide, Am I going to spend the next 30 to 40 years working 15-hour days, six or seven days a week, in a very demanding physical role? Maybe I can be the artist and enjoy life too."

One way for the rest of us to tap into that dream is to play around with their new books. The apple confit may have been a disaster--"I don't know what happened," Vongerichten says sorrowfully--but other recipes from Jean-Georges, like the seared tuna with Szechuan peppercorns, prove remarkably simple, if lacking a four-star polish. Ducasse: Flavors of France is another matter. Stunningly produced and poetically written, it is also more intimidating: heavy on costly truffles and types of fish not available in the U.S. For even the more ambitious amateurs, perhaps the best approach is to splash out on a visit to these chefs' restaurants and leave their cookbooks where they work best: on the coffee table.