Bon Appétit, Best New Cookbooks of Spring 2026

From La Copine, a destination restaurant near Joshua Tree, comes a beautiful debut cookbook with stories of life in the desert and recipes that capture a unique approach to California cooking.

Out in the California desert near Joshua Tree, La Copine spins its own kind of magic, powered by business and life partners Claire Wadsworth and Nikki Hill, the drama of the landscape, the eclectic local population, and of course, the irresistible food.

With celebrity clientele and glowing reviews in the New York Times, Eater, Vogue, and others, this restaurant is beloved by California visitors and locals alike. In their debut cookbook, La Copine, Wadsworth and Hill share stories of their love, life, community, and the spirit of La Copine, one delicious recipe at a time.

Dubbed the West Coast’s answer to Via Carota’s Rita and Jody, Wadsworth and Hill are passionate, community-driven, California cooks with a deep love for each other and the people around them. They welcome their guests to La Copine (which means "girlfriend" in French) with open arms, create a safe haven for the queer community outside of Los Angeles, and have a deep sense of care and pride for everything they put on the plate.

Home cooks will want to adopt the restaurant’s “California soul” style: veggie-forward, innovative yet comforting, light enough for lunch, yet substantial enough to gather around and linger over. From "hunky" salads (as described by the New York Times) to special-occasion sandwiches to summery, boldly flavored grilled meats and vegetables to simple, no-bake desserts, La Copine’s food roams far and wide but always imparts a sense of home.

More than the recipes, though, Wadsworth and Hill’s backstory as a couple, the business they’ve built together, and the community they’ve found in the desert, make for an armchair trip through the remote and spectacular setting, as well as a mission statement for creating a life on one’s own terms.