Zucchini-Eggplant “Parm” with pomodoro sauce, cashew béchamel, basil oil, and garlic breadcrumbs excerpted from La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert by Claire Wadsworth, Nikki Hill, and Ben Mims. Photography by Gentl & Hyers.
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, summery, boldly flavoured grilled meats and vegetables, and simple no bake desserts, La Copine’s food roams far and wide but always imparts a sense of home. (more…)
