Well told story of the ridiculous nature of fine dining. These guys almost killing them selves to run restaurants and make menus for the rich and famous. Marcus Samuelsson, an Ethiopian orphan, puts himself thur the training and travels back to his homeland to see how the other half of the world lives.
This is a very interesting book about a young man of color who wanted to be a professional soccer player but is cut from his high school team because he is too small. Turning to food, he works hard to develop his talent and skills to become a professional chef. His mantra is to say nothing except "Yes, chef," and remain invisible by just working hard and doing his tasks the best way he can. He describes his experiences as he travels the world to discover food and its mysteries. He also fails at his first attempt to open his own restaurant and learns the hard way about business through experience. Sometimes when I read a book I encounter a sentence or phrase that I treasure. Since the author was adopted this one referring to his sister had special meaning: "Ann wasn't black or white, she was joy." As I read this book, I thought that I would like to know this man. He has his life on track and his values verified. All I can say is that if you like stories of struggle about real people and love food you will enjoy this read.
I enjoyed this- I love chef watching and learning about food, and Marcus is an interesting guy. I loved that he worked with Veronica Chambers- she is a favorite writer of mine too. It is slow in places, and a big chunk of his life is skipped over, but overall, it is a good and informative read.
