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Becoming a Chef: With Recipes and Reflections from America's Leading Chefs

Becoming a Chef: With Recipes and Reflections from America's Leading Chefs

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A classic in the field that is recommended at top schools.
Review: This book is worth reading, once and quickly. But it is not worth buying. The authors seem to be writing their first love letter in the third grade. While they speak with many leading chefs and do have some nuggets, there is little in here that will make you want to sit down and read it a second time. The key saving grace is the list of chef's suggested reading. Get this book from the library, copy the list of suggested books and spend money on those instead.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Get it from the Library
Review: This book is worth reading, once and quickly. But it is not worth buying. The authors seem to be writing their first love letter in the third grade. While they speak with many leading chefs and do have some nuggets, there is little in here that will make you want to sit down and read it a second time. The key saving grace is the list of chef's suggested reading. Get this book from the library, copy the list of suggested books and spend money on those instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great handbook for what's important when becoming a chef
Review: This book really helps to guide a young chef to grow their skills as a professional, also has helped me enhance my skills, even after 20 years of cooking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun to read, informative, and unique.
Review: This book should be mandatory reading for anyone considering a restaurant career. Dornenburg and Page show what working in a kitchen is really like -- forget those ideas of glamour and celebrity. They begin with a brief history of restaurants and notable chefs, then move on to cooking schools and/or apprenticing, getting a job ("starting at the bottom"), and developing in the field. There's a chapter on opening a restaurant and one each on maintaining your edge and surviving the bad times. The authors interviewed 60 chefs from across the country, and relevant, pithy quotations are interspersed throughout the text, giving a good overview of the different experiences possible. Recipes from the chefs at first seem superfluous, but in fact they serve to convey the varied styles of many distinctive cooks. Fun to read, informative, and unique, this is an essential purchase.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great book -narrow focus
Review: This book was the AHA! for me that made me decide, yes a culinary career is where I want to go. Upon reading it I realized that there ARE other people out there with the same kind of passion and dedication to making great food, and all the hard work and long hours that go along with it. A real eye-opener and a must-read for anyone considering a culinary career. However...

This is a great book for anyone considering a career as a chef, though some of the advice, while good, may be a bit unrealistic. For example, most people can't just take a year to try working in a restaurant to see if cooking school is really for them. The book covers a number of aspects of becoming a chef, not just what it takes, but the inner motives that one should have to pursue such a demanding career-which must go far beyond any unlikely dreams of glamour, stardom, or high income.

The title does not reflect the somewhat narrow focus of the book, which unfortunately is misleading. There are a lot of different kinds of places to be a chef, not just in a restaurant, but the book focusses really only on restaurant chefs and the restaurant business, and makes little mention of the other kinds of career options chefs and food lovers in general might have-such as catering, being a personal chef, etc. However, I'm looking forward to seeing the same authors' book on food critics. They did have a purpose in focussing on chefs, but I think this book suffers by having narrowed that focus a bit too much. Nonetheless, this is a great book if you're thinking about entering the culinary field, as I am.

Rating: 0 stars
Summary: "This is not a profession that you choose. It chooses you."
Review: This quote from Miami's top chef Norman Van Aken brilliantly captures the reason BECOMING A CHEF was written -- to share the stories of how more than 60 of America's leading chefs (including Rick Bayless, Daniel Boulud, Susan Feniger & Mary Sue Milliken, Emeril Lagasse, Chris Schlesinger, Nancy Silverton, Jeremiah Tower, Charlie Trotter and Alice Waters) were chosen by this profession, and how they made their way through the twists and turns of their career paths to reach the very top. BECOMING A CHEF discusses the many influences -- including childhood memories, formal apprenticeships, world travel, memorable meals and beloved books -- that keep chefs' creativity burning bright as they strive to satisfy their customers, their critics and themselves. The book provides a candid perspective on the complex lives of today's "celebrity chefs," who need the business savvy of entrepreneurs and the innovation of artists to thrive in this most demanding and rewarding profession, named one of the top 10 for the next 10 years in terms of career opportunities.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thanks Andrew and Karen!
Review: What a great book that really gets into the thoughts and emotions of todays great chefs. The great chefs are, when it comes down to it, in love with food and have an unsatiable appetite for culinary knowledge. The authors did such a wonderful job capturing the feelings of the chefs and then painting pictures for the reader. If your interested in food, considering the culinary world as a profession or already a chef I recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fantastic book that has been long overdue.
Review: What an amazing tool this book has become for me! Not only do I re-read it for inspiration when needed, but I have made it required reading for all new cooks in my kitchen. It breeds passion and excitement -- and I have had only great response from all my cooks after they have read it. I think for young cooks especially, it truly puts things in perspective for them. It correctly portrays the seriousness, passion and commitment needed to be successful as a chef in this day and age.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Becoming a Chef: With Recipes and Reflections from America's
Review: What an extraordinary book! Pain, gain, joy, pathos, and the aroma of braised short ribs. It made me want to open (God forbid!) another restaurant. I never thought anyone could capture the magic and mission of being a chef, but theyve done it!" Barbara Tropp, Chef-Owner, China Moon Cafe "An unusually comprehensive book, immensely readable, at once passionate and coherent, probing and well-informed. For anyone interested in the historic coming of age of the professional American kitchen, this is a requisite buy." Michael and Ariane Batterberry, Founding Editors and Associate Publishers of Food Arts "Finally, a book that lets chefs speak for themselves! An insightful look at the complex life of a professional chef in the 90s. Fascinating portraits of the people who have defined American cuisinewho they are and how they got to be where they are today. Anyone who is interested in becoming a chef will find this book invaluablethis is what it takes to make it." Mark Miller, Chef-Owner, Coyote Cafe and Red Sage "After reading this book, I understand that becoming an outstanding leader is not very different from becoming a chef. Both roles require passion, discipline, authenticity, and an experimental attitude. On top of that, organizing a kitchen may be as difficult as organizing any business. Not only will present and future chefs and restaurateurs want to read this book, but anyone with a taste for excellent cooking and excellent leadership will find something of interest on every page." Warren Bennis, Distinguised Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and Author, On Becoming a Leader and Leaders "Becoming a Chef is a marvelous book for the interested home cook as well as the aspiring chef. Like great wines with great food, there are great dishes and a great education here."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Revelation!
Review: When I opened Becoming a Chef, it was literally a revelation....I will keep it with me and use it frequently. And maybe someday, if I am in a similar position to some of the chefs that are detailed in the text, I can pass on a copy to those that I may mentor and give them the direction and promise that this book has given me.


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