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Summary
Summary
'David is a personal hero - funny, wise, humble, and self-aware. With Eat a Peach, he puts words to so many of the things we all feel, sharing generously of his own journey so we can all benefit in the process.'
Chrissy Teigen, New York Times bestselling author of Cravings
In 2004, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in Manhattan's East Village. Its young chef-owner, David Chang, served ramen and pork buns to a mix of fellow restaurant cooks and confused diners whose idea of ramen was instant noodles in Styrofoam cups. It would have been impossible to know that he would become one of the most influential chefs of his generation.
Full of grace, candour, grit, and humour, Eat a Peach chronicles Chang's journey, laying bare his mistakes and feelings of otherness and inadequacy. Along the way, Chang gives us a penetrating look at restaurant life, balancing his deep love for the kitchen with unflinching honesty about the industry's history of brutishness and its uncertain future.
An intimate account of the making of a chef, the modern restaurant world that he helped shape, and how success can be much harder to understand than failure.
Author Notes
David Chang is the chef and owner of the Momofuku empire, with 15 locations from New York to Australia, and the creator and producer of the hit Netflix series Ugly Delicious . Chang has been named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, a GQ Man of the Year, a Rolling Stone Agent of Change, and a Bon Appetit Chef of the Year. He has taken home five James Beard Awards, including Best New Restaurant (2009, Momofuku Ko) and Outstanding Chef (2013). His game-changing and New York Times bestselling cookbook, Momofuku (Clarkson Potter, 2009) has sold nearly 200,000 copies.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Chang (Momofuku), Momofuku restaurateur and star of Netflix's Ugly Delicious, starts this self-effacing, heart-on-sleeve memoir with a disclaimer: "Frankly, I just don't understand my appeal." Chang writes about being a hard-driving Korean-American kid with an anger problem who channeled his frustrations into an eagerness to test limits and himself. He left a "soul-sucking" post-college finance job after discovering that, though he was far from a natural at cooking, it was something he "didn't hate doing." He opened his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar, in the East Village in 2004 at least partially to stave off suicide, and in the course of becoming an international restaurateur, Chang tried to upend people's expectations of ethnic culinary categories while pushing himself to the financial and emotional brink. Chang writes about the sweaty tension of his manic episodes and his dark depression, and there are stories of kitchen screaming fits, reflections on being in the "cool chefs club," and particularly affecting passages about Chang's late friend, Anthony Bourdain. In the book's most heartfelt section, Chang rhapsodizes about the egalitarian Asian dining ethos he wanted to import to the West and even allows himself a rare pat on the back for his influence ("Food across the country had become porkier, spicier, brighter, better"). Foodies and chefs alike will dig into Chang's searing memoir. (Sept.)
Booklist Review
Throughout his first memoir, chef, restaurateur, and Ugly Delicious host Chang (Momofuku: A Cookbook) never loses sight of the "monumental weirdness" of writing a book about himself. While he discusses his upbringing in a Korean American family with poignance, particularly his relationship with his father, this is primarily a book about Chang's career and mental health, and how the two are intertwined. After some post-college searching that led to culinary school, in the early aughts he opened Momofuku Noodle Bar in Manhattan's East Village. One restaurant became several, with accolades and new opportunities aplenty. But Chang is just as open about professional missteps as successes, lauding his talented team while never sparing himself criticism. He also applies brave transparency to the realities of coping with his bipolar disorder, and battling suicidal thoughts. Culinary-minded readers will find much instruction here (including a section on "33 rules for becoming a chef"), as well as the intimate self-portrait of a chef who works hard not to be at the top of his game, but instead always growing.
Library Journal Review
Chang is a big name in the culinary world. From Momofuku and his other restaurants, to the gone-too-soon magazine Lucky Peach, to the popular Netflix show Ugly Delicious, his star has continued to rise, despite the occasional setback. Is it luck? Hard work? Tenacity? Yes, to all that and more. Chang's memoir wrestles with those questions and the feelings of inferiority, rage, and depression that have plagued him all his life, from his time first working in kitchens to success as a restaurateur to becoming a father. He is as open about his life with bipolar disorder and struggle with self-destructive impulses as he is in describing the missteps he made while managing the Momofuku empire. This openness about the business side of the culinary world makes for a compelling read, even as readers might wince at some of Chang's self-excoriation. He closes the book with a list of 33 Rules for Becoming a Chef; anyone considering the life would do well to read it before getting started. VERDICT A solid choice for memoir fans and chef-followers alike.--Devon Thomas, Chelsea, MI