Yes, Chef

Author: Marcus Samuelsson

One-sentence summary: Chef Samuelsson takes us through his journey to becoming the chef he is today, including his background, family life, and professional ups and downs.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: We loved gaining insight into the world of restaurants and chefs.

Our least favorite thing about it: There really wasn’t anything we just didn’t like about the book, it just wasn’t earth-shattering to us. It was just kind of so-so.

Main Topics of Discussion: Passion, Work Ethic, Business, Honesty, Ethnicity, Food, Traveling, Chef Culture, Teaching/Learning

Our favorite quote: “One of the things I have learned during the time I have spent in the United States is an old African American saying: Each one, teach one. I want to believe that I am here to teach one and, more, that there is one here who is meant to teach me. And if we each one teach one, we will make a difference.”

Notes: We enjoyed reading this book about Marcus’s life and professional journey. The most fascinating thing for us was how the chef and restaurant world functions behind the scenes. We found the emphasis on learning and hands-on training inspiring. The “chef culture” of yelling, berating, humiliation, etc. was interesting to learn about but we didn’t necessarily identify with it.

Marcus obviously worked very hard and along with a natural talent, was able to drive himself to success. He was goal oriented and as he himself said, “chased flavors.” One of the most interesting parts was his discussion about the ethnicity of food and how rediscovering his home country of Ethiopia was so central to his make-up as a chef.

We really appreciated how honest Marcus was in his account of his life and experiences even when it highlighted some of his self-professed mistakes and downfalls. Never more so than when he talked about waiting 14 years to meet his daughter and have a relationship with her.

As interesting as we found the book, our one criticism was that it just wasn’t amazing, or life-changing or even that revelatory to us. It was easy to read and fairly well-written so it was an enjoyable book for us overall.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Memorable meeting moments are best recorded as close to the time of the meeting as possible. Maybe even in written form in notes. However, this time, neither of those things happened – so, sorry!

What We Ate: Roast Chicken Thighs, Salad, Beet and Quinoa Salad, Roasted Asparagus and Brussels Sprouts, and Purple Potato Mash. Cinnamon Cake with Honey for dessert.