Following the success of French Cooking for One, this new cookbook by Michèle Roberts, is about friendship as much as it is about preparing a French dinner for two.

Friendship has its own distinctive seasons, constantly changing and evolving, just as the years revolve. Cooking for a friend, you can show your affection in a direct, practical way. Composing a menu to suit or intrigue a particular beloved person, you are demonstrating how well you understand and appreciate them. This book is divided into three overlapping seasons, following the 1929 classic La bonne cuisine by Madame Saint-Ange. In each section you will find dishes and suggestions appropriate to the season as well as ideas for particular seasonal moments, such as sardine sandwiches à la Colette, designed to be packed into bicycle baskets for picnics. These recipes are designed to be straightforward to follow so you can concentrate on your guest rather than dashing between stove and table.