What Do You See When You Look At The Benu Cookbook?

Hot on the heels of a big Michelin three-star win for Benu and the recent opening of his French bistro Monsieur Benjamin, Chef Corey Lee is already looking ahead—or possible behind—to his next project: the Benu cookbook.

Our colleagues at Eater National gleaned some new details yesterday and, according to publisher Phaidon, the book works as a 33-course visual tasting menu, "in which the reader experiences the drama and poetry of Lee's cooking through recipes and beautifully written essays detailing his inspirations and motivations."

It also features 150 photographs and illustrations that follow "Lee's culinary and cultural influences including Korea, Hong Kong and San Francisco."

But we are, uh... transfixed by this cover image. What does it mean? Is this an innocent, but highly stylized tablecloth closeup? An intentionally cheeky commentary on the nature of fine dining and human bodily functions? Or maybe it's just a dumpling? I honestly can't stop looking at this Benu cookbook cover:

Anyhow, Benu drops at bookstores everywhere in April 2015.