This is a great cook book. I'm always looking for new ideas on food and this book is like a breath of fresh air. It's recipies have interesting, and at least to me, new flavor combinations. I've had the book 6 months or so and have tried a dozen or more of the recipies. Most of the ingredients are readily available locally when in season, although for some of the recipies, I had to make a mental note to look for special ingredients when I was in San Jose, prior to cooking it.
As an interesting note, I was enthralled by the people stories and the stories of the "allotment." These stories where so interesting and the descriptions accurate enough that I was able to use Google Earth to find the community garden and match satellite images with some of the photos in the book. I think the satellite images still exist on Google even as the Olympic construction has already raised the gardens.