Screaming and yelling certainly isn't my cup of tea.
But I have to admit I can't wait to read "The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef" (Bloomsbury, 2007) by Marco Pierre White.
White remains the youngest chef ever to win three Michelin stars. But he was equally well-known for being the enfant terrible of the British culinary world - that is, until former protege and fellow tantrum thrower Gordon Ramsay took his place. (TV viewers may be familiar with Ramsay from his Fox reality show "Hell's Kitchen.") Anyway, White's legendary meltdowns and withering remarks make "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell look like a simpering sap.
Mario Batali, who once worked for White in London, quit after the chef aimed a pan of risotto at his head. (He missed.) Batali paid him back by dumping a big handful of salt in one of the chef's bubbling sauce pots on his way out the door. The experience left an impression on Batali. During an interview at his Otto Enoteca Pizzeria in Manhattan, Batali told me White was "an excellent chef and a passionate person who is not, let's just say, particularly skilled in people skills."
White's book comes out in May. I'm placing my Amazon.com order now.
1 comment:
Ok, so I love good food as much as the next person. But is there's anything more absurd than a self-absorbed, bullying chef? Dude, you're one bad review from slinging hash on the midnight shift at Denny's -- Get over yourself! Mario should have clocked him with a clog. That said, the book will probably be a good read.
Great blog; keep it up!
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