heatherilene 's review for:

Eat a Peach by David Chang, Gabe Ulla

3.0

dark sad medium-paced

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I grabbed a copy of David Chang’s memoir, EAT A PEACH, on the used shelf at Bookshop Benecia. I was curious about the life of celebrity chef, David Chang, having watched him on various cooking shows over the years.

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Chang gives readers a look into his life growing up, his drive and trajectory into the successful chef that he is today, and is not shy about his failures along the way. He talks about his experiences as a Korean American, and how that has impacted his life and his cooking. His perspective here is incredibly important and one of the best parts of the book. Chang also discusses the (ongoing) struggles he experiences with mental health which feels important in light of his friendship with Anthony Bourdain.

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One of the biggest challenges with this book is the gap between Chang’s desire to be different than the harmful habits and ways of thinking he has developed (both in and out of the kitchen), and the ways in which he repeatedly falls short of making some of the necessary changes. For example, he acknowledges that women in the industry have faced hardship, like harassment, and often male chefs receive the bulk of attention and praise. Yet parts of the book further this problem by the author’s continued lauding of mostly male chefs and failure to critique or condemn male chefs who have engaged in harassment, which make it harder for women to enter, exist, and thrive in the industry.

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