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Summary
Summary
A rising young chef lays bare his gripping story of culinary triumphs, consuming drug addictions, and his continuing quest to stay on top while staying sober
At twenty-six years old, Brandon Baltzley was poised for his star turn as the opening chef at Chicago's hotspot Tribute. People called him a prodigy--the Salvador Dali of cooking--and foodie blogs followed his every move. Instead, Brandon walked away from it all and entered rehab to deal with the alcohol and cocaine addiction that had enslaved him most of his adult life.
Brandon grew up in the South with no father and an addict mother. At nine, he was prepping vegetables in the back of a gay bar. From there, he went on to deep-frying with Paula Deen to cooking in an array of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Grant Achatz's world-renowned Alinea. In between, he was touring the country with his heavy metal band, Kylesa--and doing his first stint in rehab.
Like Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Butter and Bones , Brandon's Nine Lives is about blazing a way out from a rough childhood through talent and an unbridled passion for the craft of cooking. A story that's still being written as Brandon works with Crux, the pop-up culinary collective he founded, and plans for the opening of his own restaurant, Nine Lives serves up a raw and riveting memoir about food, rock-and-roll, and redemption.
Author Notes
Brandon Baltzley is a recovering addict, which is not something to be proud of, but something to build on. An eternal nomad, he has spent time in Chicago, Maine, and Pittsburgh.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this ardent memoir, celebrity chef Brandon Baltzley divulges his struggle to acquire prodigious cul-inary talents while overcoming his equally powerful personal demons. The scion of a troubled south-ern family, Baltzley discovered a love for cooking in his mother's "bar kitchen" in Jacksonville, Fl. With scant interest in school, Baltzley bounces from restaurant to restaurant, city to city, even serving a stint as the drummer for sludge-metal band, Kylesa. Moves to New York City and Chicago bring him to cutting-edge kitchens across America, but extreme substance abuse, especially of cocaine, un-dermine each step forward. Over the book's first three-quarters, Baltzley presents his struggles with clarity and brio. A memoir from a twenty-seven year-old might seem presumptuous, but Baltzley has packed a lot of living into his years; even in the darkest moments he remains an enchanting narrator. Over time, however, the voice grows more guarded and loses some of the charm. A diagnosis of bipo-lar disorder at Bellevue, for example, is related with minimal introspection. Baltzley's focus wanders as the book comes to a close, rushing his description of the farm-restaurant he plans to start in Michi-gan. Nevertheless, this is an engaging story. When Baltzley writes about food, it feels worth the hun-dreds of dollars it would cost to taste it. Agent: Kari Stuart, ICM Partners (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The age of 28 is pretty young to have already burned through several lives, but that's exactly what happened to Baltzley, as chronicled in this revealing, rough-edged memoir. A fast-track chef with a dream job at a top Chicago restaurant, Baltzley left the kitchen to check into rehab. Although Anthony Bourdain fans will recognize Baltzley's no-holds-barred style, this is less about spilling kitchen secrets than about skipping from binge to binge and job to job. Baltzley has a clear passion for food, which will attract readers drawn to the personalities behind the dishes, but his eye-openingly honest account of drug addiction clearly separates his story from most foodie memoirs. Baltzley's journey takes him from crack dens and failed bouts of rehab to a place where he's not strictly sober but can have a beer without craving a high. After following Baltzley on his breakneck trip through both high-end and middle-of-the-road restaurants across the country, readers will wonder what this unusual chef's next life will bring.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2010 Booklist