You Must Add The Cook Book of All Time to Your Kitchen Library

Ashley Bernee Wells and Tyler Jeremy Wells, the wife-and-husband duo behind one of LA's most-beloved neighborhood restaurants, All Time , have written and released their first book: The Cook Book of All Time: recipes, stories, and cooking advice from a neighborhood restaurant . The cook book is available now from Harper Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Click here to purchase The Cook Book of All Time

The Cook Book of All Time showcases the duo’s approach to cooking free of pretense, while honoring the ingredients and the meaningful act of feeding people which is paramount to a restaurant and its survival. If you're going to get approval from anyone on planet earth, here’s one of the top...acclaimed restaurateur and author Alice Waters said: " This wonderful book is an expression of all of the values I, too, hold so dear: fresh ingredients, uncomplicated and delicious recipes, and the joy of cooking and gathering ."

Ashley and Tyler are truly unique as restaurant owners, hospitality thought leaders, and now authors. Their expertise spans the gamut: Tyler, a West Virginia native, is known for his philosophy that, yes, it takes effort, but good food can be delicious without being too serious, and cooking should be rewarding without being intimidating. He is an expert on coffee, a master at cooking on live fire, and a builder—he is responsible for much of the restaurant’s physical form. Ashley is passionate about service and design, working with Tyler to create their singular aesthetic, as well as a recognized expert in wine, a seasoned hospitality pro, and writer. Next door to All Time, they’ve recently opened a tiny cabin-like gift shop called Grandpa (Tyler did all the woodwork!) that sells beautiful wares, from ceramics to textiles to relics from the past, offering a tangible extension of the All Time experience for people to take home while also supporting independent emerging artists.

This first cook book is a tribute to all that is All Time and spreads the magic of their thriving Los Feliz neighborhood restaurant, beyond the confines of local community and transport it to people all around the country. Support them when you're in town by visiting the restaurant, make the recipes from the book and share them around your dinner table. At the heart of this is the simple act of hospitality.

Click here to purchase The Cook Book of All Time

All Time is a T&A Production. I asked Tyler & Ashley a few questions about their first cook book.

MK: With Ashley's extensive expertise in wine and restaurants, and Tyler's brilliant mind for coffee and operations, how did you guys first go about developing the opening menu at All Time?

T&A: All Time was and remains a plane that’s built while we fly it. At the outset, we based the menu on the ingredients - the best we could find - and cooked the things we love to eat and share. There was never a mood board or a big concept, we just moved the restaurant from our backyard to 2040 Hillhurst. Of course a combined handful of decades working in other restaurants didn’t hurt; we’ve both spent plenty of time learning on the job, observing what not to do as much as what we would want to carry forward once we opened our own place. The food is important, but the team and the neighborhood are what make All Time what it’s become, they're the reason it feels special.

MK: How has the wine program at All Time changed or adapted since opening, getting through covid, and now in the post covid world?

T&A: The wine program at AT has remained fairly constant since opening day. It’s grown in size, so there is more wine on the list now, but I think that’s a product of the really great work happening in the wine space, and how accessible good wine has become. Still, the vision remains what it’s always been, which is to say we are passionate about wines made by people, many of whom we know and love, who do the hard work of good farming against all odds. Wine growers are the most optimistic, hospitable people I have ever met. We tend to have wines from the old world, but maybe lesser known parts of that tradition, wines that are made in a harmonious way with the earth but still represent where they come from honestly. And of course, they must be delicious.

MK: Are you giving us the secrets to create the Big Ass Salad at home??? It's my favorite salad of all time.

T&A: The Good Ass / Big Ass / Ass Ass Salad (everyone calls it something different but it is, in fact, Good Ass Salad!), is in the book, dressing and all! It’s extremely simple, almost embarrassingly easy to make.

MK: What does it mean to you having the legend herself, Alice Waters, give a quote for your cookbook?

T&A: When Alice came in for dinner at the restaurant it was surreal but also incredibly warm and familiar. We chatted about the importance of candlelight and rosé and after she finished dinner, she headed straight to the kitchen to thank the cooks and sing the praises of the lamb ragu and the cobbler. It was such an important moment for us and the restaurant. It was emotional. When I asked Tyler who we should ask to blurb the book, Alice was the only answer. But, what an ask! Of course she was immeasurably gracious, and the honor of having her words on our book is not quantifiable. We are so proud, and also grateful not only for her words, but for all the work she continues to do in the space of food, farming, education, and sustainability.

MK: After a long ass day at the restaurant, what do you guys cook yourselves for dinner?

T&A: It really depends on the day, and most days we stick around and eat at All Time, but if we are cooking we grab our groceries from the restaurant walk-in. We know this stuff is the best we can get; usually it’s something simple—fish or steak or tacos, and if the weather is nice, Tyler makes dinner on a fire in the yard. I will never get tired of him cooking for us at home, it still feels like a special occasion because we do spend so much of our time, happily, at the restaurant.