Available:*
Shelf Number | Material Type | Copy | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 641.5092 VON | Recreational Reading | 1 | Standard shelving location | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
One of the most influential chef-restaurateurs of all time reflects on a career defined by surprising, delicious food.
From his first apprenticeship in France to his Michelin-starred restaurant empire, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's cuisine is inspired by the freshest ingredients, the simplest techniques, and the drive to make the ordinary perfect. It all started at home.
Jean-Georges was born in Alsace in eastern France to a family in the coal business. He spent his childhood watching, mesmerized, as his mother produced elaborate lunches each day at 12:30 p.m. sharp and exquisite dinners at exactly 7:30 p.m. Served rich goose stew and tender roasted local vegetables, Vongerichten's palate was forever transformed, and such were the origins of his culinary genius.
JGV is an invitation into the kitchen with a master chef. With humor and heart, Jean-Georges looks back on success and failure, sharing stories of cooking with legendary chefs Paul Bocuse and Louis Outhier, traveling in search of new and revelatory flavors, and building menus of his own in New York City, London, Singapore, São Paolo, and back in France. Every story is full of wisdom, conveyed with the magnanimity and precision that has made this chef a household name.
Anchoring this remarkable memoir are twelve recipes that have defined Jean-Georges's career: an egg caviar still on his menu forty years after his mentor taught him the simple preparation; shrimp satay with a wine-oyster reduction from his landmark Lafayette restaurant; a pea guacamole that had President Obama tweeting; and more.
Enlivened with his hand-drawn sketches and intimate photographs, JGV is a book for young chefs, as well as anyone who has ever stood at a stove and wondered what might be.
Author Notes
Jean-Georges Vongerichten won the 1998 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef and Best New Restaurant. His Manhattan restaurants include Vong, JoJo, the Mercer Kitchen, and Jean Georges, which earned a rare four-star rating from The New York Times. He is coauthor of the James Beard Award-winning Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef (Broadway Books, 1998).
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A world-famous chef offers a remarkably down-to-earth take on his ascent to the upper echelons of the culinary world in this delightful memoir. Vongerichten (Home Cooking with Jean-Georges) was kicked out of school at age 15 for his lack of work ethic, and later found direction and discipline as an apprentice in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred Alsatian restaurant. Vongerichten writes fondly of the French chefs he worked for, Paul Bocuse and Louis Outhier among them, but it was his introduction to Thai street food that would change the trajectory of his career: his eventual fusing of classic French techniques with Asian ingredients-spurred by a negative review in New York magazine in 1986-enshrined his place in modern culinary history. Vongerichten comes across as a nice, humble, and thankful guy, which makes an interlude in which he admits to beating up a dishwasher for taking an extended break during a crucial lunch service while the New York Times restaurant critic was dining at the restaurant especially eye-opening. Readers who dined at Vongerichten's restaurant Jojo during its heyday, meanwhile, will be surprised to learn the secret ingredient in a popular sauce was ketchup. (A recipe for it is included.) Anyone curious about what drives an elite chef will want to pick this up. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
In this well-paced memoir aimed at aspiring chefs seeking advice on entering, surviving, and succeeding in a tough field, four-star chef-restaurateur Vongerichten (cohost, PBS's Kimchi Chronicles) divulges how he did it, and what helped him along the way. Organized into five parts showing the arc of the author's career, the book describes his childhood in rural France, explaining how an introvert expelled from school at age 15 became an apprentice at a three-star restaurant. His openness to new places and experiences often put him at the vanguard of food trends. Readers will admire his flexibility, squirm at his close calls, and cheer at his luck as he transitions to more responsibilities in Bangkok, Singapore, and New York. Each shared memory sneaks a useful truth into readers' psyche, as the author imparts wisdom on thriving in a new kitchen, city, and business venture by listening to others, taking risks, and leaving nothing to chance. VERDICT Vongerichten's book is a gem for those interested in a culinary career and a breezy, fun read for anyone who enjoys memoirs and success stories.--Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee