Reddit reviews Heritage

Currently reading Heritage by Sean Brock. I really like Bar Tartine if you have any interest in preservation. Gjelina is on my Christmas list. For something really different, Salvador Dali's cookbook was just released.

edited for formatting

Adding on to your comment, these are the books I'm lusting after:

Heritage

A Kitchen in France

Aeri's Korean Cookbook

The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food

Ottolenghi

Thug Kitchen

My Paris Kitchen

Any Barefoot Contessa cookbook

The Smitten Kitchen cookbook

This is a cookbook from a Chef that operates a restaurant in my town.
http://www.amazon.com/Heritage-Sean-Brock/dp/1579654630

It's one of the few that I own, there are some very nice recipes. A lot of them vegetable based, there are also some nice cocktail recipes and dessert recipes.

Any of the Thomas Keller books, French Laundry, Ad Hoc at Home, Bouchon, and Bouchon Bakery. The only one you'd probably want to avoid is Under Pressure.

Also, Heston at Home and In Search of Perfection are great books.

If you're into southern food, check out Sean Brock's Heritage and Ed Lee's Smoke & Pickles.

Finally, I'd suggest Modernist Cuisine at Home if you're up for splurging.

As far as food pairings look into a copy of the Flavor Bible. There’s also a similar book by them called What To Drink With What You Eat if you want to get into pairing basics as well.
As for plating, just look at nice cookbooks from restaurants and chefs, like The French Laundry,
Sean Brock,
Bluestem,
or basically any other example of food you want to produce. Follow the restaurants, go eat there if you can.

Also examine your platings from the perspective of the diner. Where is your eye drawn first? Is it the focal point or is your plating distracting from that?