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Shelf Number | Material Type | Copy | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 647.95023 DOR | Book | 1 | Standard shelving location | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"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." Robert Mondavi, Founder, Robert Mondavi Winery
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Now that chefdom in the U.S. can mean glamour and riches, a career guide appears that doesn't necessarily deflate the profession but, rather, acts as a dose of reality to those starstruck by famous cooks. A practicing chef and a journalist, coupled both on these pages and in life, journey throughout the country to uncover the trials and temptations of the culinary world through interviews with 60 well-known chefs, from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse to Charlie Trotter of the eponymous Chicago restaurant. Why should a fledgling cook bother with culinary history? What are the different avenues of training? What should a chef's career path look like? What are some of the personal highs and lows of restaurant ownership? No easy answers are proffered, but clear insights into the profession, accompanied by about 60 traditional and new recipes, are guaranteed to steer wanna-be cooks either into or out of a professional kitchen. (Reviewed July 1995)0442015135Barbara Jacobs
Library Journal 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 through 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 for career collections.-Judith Sutton, "Sutton's Place Cuisine," New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Chefs: Yesterday and Today |
| Early Influences: Discovering a Passion for Food |
| Cooking Schools: Learning in the Classroom |
| Apprenticing: Learning in the Kitchen |
| Getting In: Starting at the Bottom |
| Developing as a Cook: The Next Level |
| The Business of Cooking: Operating and Running a Restaurant |
| Travel, Eating, and Reading: Learning Something New Every Day |
| Persevering in the Face of Reality: Through Bad Times and Good |
| What's Next?: The Chef as Alchemist |
| Appendices |
| Index |