Manufacturing Modernist Cuisine

The presses will soon be hum­ming again with the sec­ond print­ing of Modernist Cuisine. Printing, bind­ing, and pack­ag­ing a 2,438-page, six-volume set with the high­est pro­duc­tion qual­ity is quite an involved process. Some parts of the manufacturing—including assem­bly of the vol­umes into their slip­cases, round­ing of the backs, and glue-up of the end­pages, rib­bon book­marks, and backs—are still best done by hand. Although these man­ual steps slow pro­duc­tion some­what, they are needed to ensure that the books look great, lie flat when open, and retain their integrity over many years of use.

For a view inside the plant, check out these video high­lights from the first print run.