millhousethecat 's review for:

Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef by Slutty Cheff

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Piggybacking on Bourdain’s incredibly popular, incredibly shocking memoir about the realities of being a chef - sex, drugs, and escarole - our nameless narrator shares a romance set against London’s fine dining scene.

The romance is not what you’d expect, though there’s plenty of sex.

The romance isn’t with a man or a woman, but instead with the burst of adrenaline chef gets every time she sets foot into the crazed atmosphere of a kitchen. Between the whirring tickets demanding her attention, the food runners waiting less than patiently for their plates, and her fellow chefs shouting obscenities at one another, our chef is in love.

It’s something made more accessible of late in pop culture, with books and television giving a glimpse, but it becomes clear: if you aren’t really in the kitchen you’ll never understand.

Chef struggles with depression, seeking salvation in a man, in sex, in conversations with her long suffering father, in a wrap full of knives. She falls in love over and over - and it’s hard to say which lovers are worse for her, the men or the restaurants.

Chef is brash and unforgiving. If women talking about sex (and having it) makes you uncomfortable, this book isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for an uncensored look at the obsession required to become a chef, look no further.

It’s a book that will be great for discussion, preferably around a table set with fine silver, a heavy pour of wine, and a meal that knocks your socks off. And while it’s technically listed as non-fiction memoir, it reads like heady contemporary fiction/romance.

It’s also funny as hell. 

While it can be repetitive at times, I highly recommend it if food culture interests you. I devoured this one in 24 hours and I’m still thinking about it.

Vibe check: Restaurant Confidential, The Bear