Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line

Description

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME

The back will have to slave to feed the belly. . . . In this urgent and unique book, chef Michael Gibney uses twenty-four hours to animate the intricate camaraderie and culinary choreography in an upscale New York restaurant kitchen. Here readers will find all of the details, in rapid-fire succession, of what it takes to deliver an exceptional plate of food—the journey to excellence by means of exhaustion.
 
Told in second-person narrative, Sous Chef is an immersive, adrenaline-fueled run that offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective on the food service industry, allowing readers to briefly inhabit the hidden world in the back of the kitchen doors, in real time. This exhilarating account provides regular diners and food enthusiasts alike a detailed insider’s perspective, at the same time as offering fledgling professional cooks an honest picture of what the future holds, in the long run giving voice to the hard work and dedication around which chefs have built their careers.
 
In a kitchen where the highest standards are upheld and one misstep can result in disaster, Sous Chef conjures a greater appreciation for the thought, care, and focus that go into creating memorable and delicious fare. With grit, wit, and remarkable prose, Michael Gibney renders a beautiful and raw account of this demanding and every now and then overlooked profession, offering a nuanced perspective on the craft and art of food and service.
 

From the Trade Paperback edition.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2014: Reading Michael Gibney’s Sous Chef–a debut that plays at the outer bounds of memoir–may be the closest most of us will ever come to living a day as the second one-in-command at a Michelin-starred New York City restaurant. Written in the second one person, it’s intense and immediately devourable. Sous Chef has all of the drama, disaster, and triumph people have come to expect from reality restaurant TV, but far more intimate and nuanced. On each page, Gibney turns out phrases to savor: this is kitchen writing on par with Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones & Butter. No one who’s read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential will be surprised by the more licentious elements, but the real thrills are those transcendent moments when each player is absorbed by their role, moving together to assemble an implausible meal. In Gibney’s hands, the anonymous act of preparing and serving great food to ravenous multitudes feels authentically noble, verging on heroic. –Mari Malcolm

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME

The back will have to slave to feed the belly. . . . In this urgent and unique book, chef Michael Gibney uses twenty-four hours to animate the intricate camaraderie and culinary choreography in an upscale New York restaurant kitchen. Here readers will find all of the details, in rapid-fire succession, of what it takes to deliver an exceptional plate of food—the journey to excellence by means of exhaustion.
 
Told in second-person narrative, Sous Chef is an immersive, adrenaline-fueled run that offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective on the food service industry, allowing readers to briefly inhabit the hidden world in the back of the kitchen doors, in real time. This exhilarating account provides regular diners and food enthusiasts alike a detailed insider’s perspective, at the same time as offering fledgling professional cooks an honest picture of what the future holds, in the long run giving voice to the hard work and dedication around which chefs have built their careers.
 
In a kitchen where the highest standards are upheld and one misstep can result in disaster, Sous Chef conjures a greater appreciation for the thought, care, and focus that go into creating memorable and delicious fare. With grit, wit, and remarkable prose, Michael Gibney renders a beautiful and raw account of this demanding and every now and then overlooked profession, offering a nuanced perspective on the craft and art of food and service.
 

From the Trade Paperback edition.