Chef Thomas Keller is known for his high-end cooking (miniature
salmon tartare ice cream cone, anyone?), but his newest book, Ad
Hoc at Home, is his most accessible yet. Keller took a few
minutes on a recent afternoon to sit in the yard outside the
French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, Calif., to talk about
the comfort food he loves.  Why did you write this book?  Number
one, the people that I'm involved with: David Cruz at Ad Hoc,
Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman and Deborah Jones. They are such
an amazing team. I really like being involved with a team and
collaborating on projects. The second reason was that this type
of food resonates with me. I don't want to say it's my favorite
restaurant here in Yountville, because I don't want to play
favorites, but I find myself drawn to Ad Hoc over and over
again, not just for the quality of the food, but also the
simplicity of the menu.  Was it easy to adapt Ad Hoc's recipes
for home cooks?  It's so hard writing a cookbook because it
doesn't matter if it's the simp