Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker,… (2006)

Actually, I only got a little over halfway through the book before I realized I had lost the momentum. It was really entertaining at first, but a lot reminded me of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential without the cred. I couldn't help but start getting frustrated that Buford did not deserve the privilege and luxury of jumping from station to station in the Babbo kitchen just because he felt like it--especially when his colleagues had been busting their balls for years (and were largely getting it right where he failed). The bits on Batali's life were interesting for a while, but those began to peter out, and I did like the food history well enough, but not enough to keep going. Also, why only Italian food? The only reason Buford cites as his concept for this book/experience, as I recall, was his being an avid amateur cook and wanted to see what it was like to work in a professional kitchen. Is it just because of his in with Batali? It seems that if he knew Batali, he must have known other chefs. Was it because Babbo was so prestigious? Was it because Batali was getting his ego stroked on the premise that Buford would be writing a piece on him for The New Yorker? Was Batali the only chef willing to let this guy in? And all this led to further fascination with the particulars of Italian food? Perhaps it's all revealed in the chapters I won't be reading. ( )

paper. Italian restaurant; Batali. publ 2012; read 2015

Another one I couldn't bring myself to finish. It seems that I'm in a reading rut. I wanted to like this, but it was just too tedious to even finish. If you have never worked in a restaurant, read a kitchen memoir or are interested in Mario Batali, you might like this. But I can't stand Batali, have worked in many restaurants and read a few of Bourdain's books already. I felt like I knew all there was to tell about this before I even started it. I also think it was way too long and not focused at all. I was irritated by about page 8 for the author talking down to the audience (do we really need a definition of a walk-in?). And on top of it, the author seemed to be in love with the mystique of cooking as opposed to actually doing it, and was a bit of a show-off about all of the cool and important people he hung out with. Blech.

2.5. Read this before Dirt, unlike me.

Parts of this book are cringe worthy given the recent Batali sexual harassment scandals but with an anthropologist's safe harbor Buford does document what he sees and perhaps this book ended up, in some small way, serving as an informal indictment of Batali and that bad chef boy behavior. To be fair, that behavior is not Batali's alone and Buford documents the same culture patterns in nearly all of the kitchens that he works in including in his later book on France.

I dined at Otto a few times a month for many years and I did enjoy the food and the scene but what I remember the most was the warmth and professionalism of the staff in the front of the house. Well that and the constant flowing free wine which may have also clouded my perspective. On reflection, it's disappointing that a highly regarded team under Joe B. could have allowed this type of culture to prevail in any of their restaurants. It makes me wish upon them those creeping, stultifying corporate culture norms that I endured for years and which finally abolished many of these outrageous behaviors from most corporate US work environments. I seriously doubt the food would suffer.

A final comment, in 2020 the book now reads like the Trump Woodward tapes. What was Batali thinking? Did he get an advance copy before publishing? I guess the lure of being documented by an established writer for years on end was too enticing and there he ends up, alone in Michigan, hoisted up by his haunches and fastened tight by his own ego. This story is a tragedy in 4 acts and only the first 3 are documented in this book. If you do read Heat follow it up by reading the recent news articles. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book. Compared to other similar food and cooking memoirs, this one has fewer personalities and more food. The problem is that for me, the food does not sound appealing at all. Buford talks about eating serving after serving of lard, he complains when a restaurant entree comes with vegetables on the side, he talks about how employees who leave the restaurant all lose forty pounds, … The food sounds worse and less healthy than McDonalds. Yuck. The book still gives a window into a certain culture, but not a very attractive one. ( )