Black Americans often have an outfit that they save for church, putting on their Sunday best before gathering together. To Adrienne Cheatham's way of thinking, that sense of specialness can extend to food as well, whether it's served on Sunday or any other night of the week when you want honor your guests or your family.

Drawing on the Southern food that has been central to many African-American tables, Cheatham, formerly executive sous chef at Le Bernardin and executive chef at Red Rooster, employs her professional training to help show off the best qualities in dishes such as flaky layered biscuits with sausage gravy, cornbread gougeres, mustard green chimichurri, and sweet potato gnocchi with bacon miso sauce.

Anyone with a passing acquaintance with American cooking will have to acknowledge the inventive approach Cheatham displays here without losing touch with the elements that make a dish recognizable.

Sunday Best is not a book for tossing off a quick dinner: it's one you pull out when you're ready to do things right.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout/